The Successors: Garth and Lilly
by CutestOmega
Summary: Many people on this site will show you a story about Kate and Humphrey's pups. But what about Lilly and Garth? What have them and their pups had to face in this big, unfair world? This is their story. *read A/N!*
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Sorry I took this down. It wouldn't stop giving me uploading problems because my computer is epically stupid! (That explains how the first chapter appeared twice). I'm going to try it again. Hopefully, the next chapters will be up sooner this time. :)**

Garth walked towards where the Alphas usually hunted the caribou. On the way there, he heard someone call, "Hey, Barf!"

Only one wolf called him that. Garth turned around to see a gray fellow trotting over to him. "Hey, Coyote."

Humphrey laughed. "So, what's up? You never visit your new in-laws?"

"Yeah…sorry about that. Lilly and I've been sort of busy. You know…" Garth held a paw in the air as if he was measuring how tall an invisible wolf was.

"Don't I know how that is!" Humphrey rolled his eyes good-naturedly and laughed.

"How are yours?"

Humphrey put a paw to his neck. How could he say it nicely? "They keep us on our paws. Would you and Lilly mind coming over to lend us a paw sometime?"

"I'll think about it."

"Keep in mind, they're more work when their eyes are open and can fully run unlike last time you saw 'em," Humphrey warned.

"So are ours," Garth reminded him.

"Oh yeah. At least you don't have three!" Humphrey joked.

"And I don't want one more either!" Garth joked back. "Well…I guess I better get back to hunting."

"And I should probably get my squirrels back to my family."

Garth laughed. Humphrey wasn't exactly the best hunter. Without Garth, Kate probably would've starved while she was pregnant.

"See 'ya around Barf. And come visit your siblings-in-law sometime!" Humphrey called to Garth as Garth ran off to begin his hunt.

* * *

><p>"Hey beautiful eyes," Garth's voice echoed off the walls of his and Lilly's den. Lilly sat up. "You're home!" Lilly exclaimed and pressed her neck to her mate's.<p>

"Oh! Excuse me," Lilly muttered as they pulled apart. She blew her hair out of her left eye and then smiled at Garth.

"There they are!" Garth breathed. Seeing her lovely lavender eyes always took his breath away. And whenever it did, Lilly would blush.

"Would you mind lending me a paw with the two?"

"Sure. But first, I brought dinner," Garth said excitedly. He turned to get his prey and drag it in. It was awfully heavy.

"Let me help you with that."

A smaller version of Garth two white legs (and the other two were red) came in and helped Garth bring the meal inside.

"Thanks Troy," Garth told his son after the caribou had been dragged to the middle of the den.

Hearing her father's voice, another pup ran in. She was snowy white with a bushy, brawny-colored tail. She pounced on her brother. "Look how good I've gotten on sneaking up on Troy, dad!" she squeaked as she sat on top of her littermate.

"Good-job Luna," Garth praised.

"Why don't you two go burn off some of your energy before keeping it all bottled in this little cave?" Lilly suggested.

"Okay mom," the pups said at the same time. They raced each other outside.

Garth chuckled with amusement. "Lilly, you'll never guess who I saw on the way here."

Lilly pricked her ears and gave an 'I'm listening' look.

"Humphrey."

"Oh!" Lilly gasped. "We haven't seen him and Kate in forever!"

"I know," Garth agreed. "That's what we were talking about."

"You'd think now that the packs are united, we'd get to see each other more."

Garth nodded. "I think it's the pups. They left us too busy to visit anyone."

"Same with Kate and Humphrey," Lilly replied.

Garth sighed. He sniffed the caribou carcass and began to eat a few bites for an appetizer. Lilly shuffled her paws nervously. "What's wrong Lilly?" Garth asked, concerned.

Lilly looked down. "Well…with summer almost to an end, the pups will need to start preparing for Alpha School…"

"That's right!" Garth remembered. "I better start teaching Violet how to land after leaping better."

"Garth…" Lilly was searching for the right words. "When Alphas have pups with Alphas, most likely, _all_ the pups become Alphas."

"Yes…" Garth slowly nodded. He didn't understand what his mate was trying to say.

"And pups to Omega and Omega parents usually all end up Omegas …but…when there's one Alpha and one Omega parent…?"

Garth's ears drooped. "Only one of our pups is going to be an Alpha," he realized.

Lilly looked at him with pained eyes. "How will we know which one to send?"

"We'll just have to pick," Garth concluded after only a few seconds.

"But what if we can't decide? What if we start to fight because of it?" Lilly fretted. She feared getting into a bad fight that would break them up.

"We'll just have to choose calmly and decide by acting our age," Garth assured her. He rubbed his nose against hers and he gestured for her to follow him outside.

"We'll have to observe them. Whichever shows more Alpha qualities…well you know," Garth told her once they were halfway to where the pups were playing.

"I just feel so judgmental doing it this way," Lilly said sadly.

"Don't worry. They'll understand," Garth tried to comfort her. "I know because they're _your_ pups."

* * *

><p>"Luna! You messed up my concentration!" Troy growled after his sister had pounced on him.<p>

Luna jumped off of him. "Oh please! You don't have the brain capacity to concentrate on stuff!"

Troy growled. "I was going to jump all the way to that rock," he pointed with his nose. "And you ruined it!"

The two siblings were standing on a cliff. It had paths to other cliffs, but they were extremely narrow. The side that the two young wolves were standing on had another rock jutting out between its cliff and the next. Since it looked like a huge bathtub, it was called Bathtub Cliffs.

"Why should we have to walk across that dangerously narrow path when we could just jump from one rock to another?" Troy sounded like a commercial advertiser.

"You could never make that," Luna scoffed.

"Watch me," Troy retorted. He crouched at the edge of the cliff and concentrated on the rock that jutted out. He braced himself then leaped with a grunt. He almost slipped but recovered just in time. "Told you!" he called to his sister.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Show-off," she muttered. "If you can make that jump, than I can do it even without slipping!" she yelled.

"I'd like to see you try!" Troy challenged before leaping to the next cliff.

"Go ahead and see," Luna taunted back. She copied what her brother had done before leaping and concentrated harder than ever before. Whenever she leaped, she had trouble landing on her paws afterwards. Luna jumped. Her forepaws aimed for the top part of the rock. Instead, they landed on the side. Luna let out a yelp as she slipped but quickly got a claw snagged on something on top and pulled herself up, panting.

Troy laughed. "That slip was worse than mine!"

"You know what? Its hard because it just rained," Luna excused herself.

At the bottom of the cliffs were Garth and Lilly. Lilly had winced. "That was bad," she moaned.

Garth put a paw on hers. "Troy looks like he can handle the Alpha moves better. I think we've reached a conclusion, Lilly."

Lilly looked down. She was so sad that her fur fell over her left eye again.

Garth tried to comfort her with a nuzzle on the cheek. "Come on. We're going to have to break the news to her sometime."

"I wish it was never," Lilly muttered.

"You know what your dad would say: that's the law of the pack."

"The new law," Lilly added. She and her mate stood and walked to the incline that would let them out. As Garth called for the kids to follow, Lilly muttered, "The _stupid_ law!"

* * *

><p>The family was finally eating their meal. Lilly was doing a good job appearing casual, but inside her heart was breaking. She would soon have to break the news to her daughter. How could she deny her pup of what they both had always wanted?<p>

Troy ripped off a huge chunk of meat and was attacking it like Humphrey to a bag of wolf-proof donuts.

"Careful, Troy!" Lilly giggled with amusement. "I don't want my pup to start choking."

Garth came over and clawed the chunk into smaller pieces for the young male. "Thanks dad," Troy said quietly.

They continued to eat, but with more silence now.

After a while, Garth elbowed his mate gently. She looked at him with pained eyes (her fur was pushed back again). Garth nodded. It was time.

Lilly shuffled her paws nervously. So Garth went first. "Hey…kids? Do you know what you're going to have to start preparing for now that summer's coming up?"

The two pups beamed. "Alpha school!" they chorused.

Lilly nodded and forced a smile.

"Troy, Luna…" Garth tried to think. "As you know, you're mother used to be an Omega. Because of us and your aunt and uncle, the pack was able to work around their old law about Omegas mat—I mean…! Falling in love with Alphas."

"That's how we were born," Luna said proudly.

"Right," Lilly nodded.

Garth cleared his throat before going on. "Well kids. According to Pack Laws, if the Alphas marry Omegas, the only condition is that…well, not all of our pups can have one rank…"

"But…" Luna's excited smile faded as did her brother's. "That means only one of us can be…" there was a hint of fear in her voice.

"Can be an Alpha?" Lilly finished. "Yes. I'm so sorry," she added with a look at her paws.

Troy and Luna looked at each other and back at their parents. "How will they decide which of us to send?" Luna pressed.

"We'll have to decide," Lilly answered.

Troy stood up. "Then watch us! Luna, you and I will compete!" he declared. "You can choose the one with more Alpha skills!"

"Yeah!" Luna agreed.

"But we already—" Lilly was interrupted as the two siblings fled the cave and ran back to Bathtub Cliffs.

Lilly fought a whimper. "Luna's going to hate us," she whispered.

"Luna would never hate us," Garth argued.

"Now she will. Oh Garth. She really wants this! How could we do this?"

"Troy wants this too," her mate pointed out. "One of them will have to face this weather we want it or not."

Lilly sighed with defeat and reluctantly walked out of the den and after her pups.

* * *

><p>Troy braced himself before leaping towards the 'faucet' part of the cliffs. This time, he landed without nearly slipping.<p>

Luna rolled her eyes. She called to her parents who were watching from the bottom. "Watch this! I'm much better!"

She braced her hind legs but right before she leaped, she looked down. The fall was intimidating, but not deadly. Getting a little nervous by the drop, Luna took a deep breath and jumped. This time, she missed the top again. Troy didn't have enough time to help her before she fell altogether. She landed with an 'Oof!' on her back. She rolled over and quickly stood to face her mom and dad.

"That wasn't fair! It was raining, so of course I'm going to slip!"

"It was pouring down and I can still do this!" Troy called. He turned to face the next cliff and jumped. He landed perfectly on his paws. "Mom, Dad, can't you see we're just wasting time at this point?"

Lilly could only watch ruefully as her daughter ran past her, up the incline behind them, back to third cliff, and braced herself to jump again. Same results.

"I'd like to hear your excuse this time!" Troy challenged.

"You promised you would go easy on me," Luna muttered.

Garth stood up. "Luna, you're mother and I have agreed—"

"No!" Luna cleared her throat as if to cough the firmness away from her voice. "I mean…just give me a minute. Once I get into a good routine I'm sure I'll—"

"Luna," Lilly paused to brace herself for what was about to happen. "We saw you and Troy playing earlier. I would give you over a thousand chances to try again but fate wants you to—"

She stopped as she heard Troy noisily coming up behind them. Luna walked closer to her parents and Tony came up to stand beside her. Their expressions were opposites. One worried and one growing excited.

"So it's true then?" Troy asked.

Garth stood up. "Yes Troy. It looks like you'll be the Alpha."

"What?" the two said. One was shock the other was ecstatic.

"I don't believe this!" Luna squeaked.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" Troy repeated over and over. He ran up to his parents and nuzzled them both. "You won't regret this! I'll make you both proud! I promise!"

"We believe you!" Lilly could barely hide an amused giggle.

Meanwhile, Luna was shaking with anger. "You're all against me!" she snapped.

Lilly stood up. "Luna, we're not against you. It's just the way of—"

"It's all your fault!" Luna yelled at her father.

"Luna, this is no one's fault," Lilly tried to calm her down.

"No! It _is_ his fault!" the young she-wolf screamed. "It's his fault for falling in love with an Omega! How could you be so stupid?"

The three wolves gasped. Luna's tears started to stream down and she sped past them to escape the cliffs enclosing her with her family.

Lilly gasped as if someone just punched her. Then the tears started to leave her eyes too. Garth tried to comfort her, but his eyes were following Luna as her reddish tail disappeared over the cliff's wall.

"I'll get her," Troy said. He licked his mother's cheek in comfort before racing after his littermate.

Garth watched Troy gratefully. Now, he could focus on comforting his mate who believed her own pup hated her.

* * *

><p>"Luna, wait!" Troy yelled breathlessly.<p>

Luna ran despite being out of breath too. She was going so fast that by the time her tears fell, they would hit her flanks. _I don't care _she thought. _What are they thinking? I run faster than him! I'm swifter than him! My flips are better than his! My bite is almost as scary as grandma's for pity's sake! Just because he can land better than me, they think he deserves more? I just don't believe it!_

Luna finally couldn't run anymore. She had reached the hill where Humphrey watched Kate hunt and finally stopped at the edge.

Troy ran up to her. Luna hesitated before turning to face her brother.

Troy panted before speaking. "That wasn't fair, what you said to them. They can't help who they fall in love with. In fact, if they hadn't had fallen in love, neither of us—"

Luna interrupted him with a scoff. "Neither of us would exist, yeah I know that! Do you think I'm happy I said that?" she demanded. "Do you honestly think I wanted to make mom cry? Do you think I would ever blame _anything_ on dad? No. I blame all this on the stupid pack! Why do they have to make such stupid laws? Why can't we just all be Alphas?"

"I don't know. But we just need Omegas, okay? And have you even seen yourself? You're humorous, you like turtles, and you even play with squirrels! You're a natural Omega!"

"_Don't ever say that_!" Luna screamed.

"Luna, you are overreacting! Just accept this!" Troy begged.

"I am an Alpha, just like _you_!" Luna yelled.

She snapped. She lashed out a paw and hit her brother's face. He yelped in pain and held a paw to his left eye. When he removed his paw, a deep scar was left behind.

Luna gasped. Tears threatened to spill again. "What have I done?" she whispered to herself. "This is turning me into a monster!"

She turned and jumped off the hill. She ran away from her brother. This time, he didn't bother following her. Luna ran despite being blinded by tears. _Why can't they understand? I only want to be with my brother! If we're separate ranks, his duties will keep him too busy to pay attention to me._ But Troy was right. She needed to accept this. But she needed to do it alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**READ THIS! CONTAINS INFO SO IMPORTANT, I WILL MAKE EVE SLAP YOU IF YOU IGNORE!**

**First of all, I finally introduce Kate and Humphrey's pups in this chapter. Although…I just realized…I FORGOT TO DESCRIBE THEM! Meep!**

**So here: Hayden: exactly like her mother, except has black ears and gray patch over left eye. Jake: just like Kate, except for black ears, blue eyes, and instead of white underbelly, really light gray.**

**Second: Finally! Chapter 2! Would've been here yesterday, but family issues interfered (as usual.)**

**Before we start, can I just say? I just noticed CGWolf'13 has a story called the Next Generation with similar names. To avoid any false accusations, I must say, _I named these OCs myself!_ How?**

**Luna: I was watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while trying to decide names. I've always liked Luna L. and thought Luna would be a good name for Lilly's daughter!**

**Jake: I always liked that name for a guy and I thought Humphrey would go through with it since it rhymed with Kate.**

**Troy: switch a few letters and replace 'r' with 'n' and you get Tony.**

**Hayden: See if you can figure that one out.**

** Anywho, thanks for my reviewers! No, I didn't mean to upload the same chapter. My Computer is epically stupid.**

**Commentaholic: Oh my dog, I said the same thing during the movie! But do not fret. I will have an excuse for that in the next chapter or two. Hang tight!**

**In this chappie, you will see how Luna is handling being an Omega and what Troy must face on his first day.**

**And here's a little something I forgot in the previous chapter:**

**Luna: Cutest Omega! I came to tell you that you don't own Alpha and Omega!**

**Cutest Omega: *screams***

**Luna: *covers ears with paws* Sorry, but it's true.**

**Cutest Omega: Oh, I'm not screaming because of that. My dog just peed on me.**

**Luna: Ew. **

**_The Successors: Garth and Lilly: Chapter 2_**

Luna did learn to accept it. But as the fall came and went, she couldn't help but participate in some of Troy's practice lessons.

On the last day of autumn, Troy and Garth had left for Alpha School. It was pack tradition for the Head-Alpha to teach at least the one year his pups would be going. Although, Garth was technically half a head-Alpha since Humphrey, Kate, and Lilly had become Head-Alphas as well.

The winter was long and even longer for those who stayed behind. Luna had learned to accept and even enjoy being an Omega. It had turned her into a kinder, loving, and quieter young she-wolf. She had grown into a beautiful creature over the hard winter and if she looked so much like this as an Omega, she was excited to see how her Alpha brother would look.

Today, Luna was snoozing in her den next to her mother. She awoke with a grunt as sunlight streamed into her eyes. Curious as to why the winter sun was so bright today, Luna got up to investigate from the mouth of the cave. When she saw the scenery she gasped at what she saw.

Awed, Luna ran over and gently shook her mother until her eyelids fluttered awake. "Luna? What is it dear?" Lilly muttered drowsily.

"Come and see! Hurry mom!"

Lilly yawned and stretched before going over to see what her daughter was so excited about. She too was awed by the sight. The entire forest floor was drowned in bright green grass and bright, multi-colored flowers dotted various sections. Even the few streams foamed and were a beautiful shade of aquamarine.

Lilly's breath was nearly taken away at the beauty. "It's spring!" Luna squeaked. "You realize who's coming home right?"

Lilly nodded but didn't get a chance to speak before Luna pelted away to search for the homecoming Alphas. Lilly chuckled with amusement and followed more slowly.

_She's matured so much over one winter!_ Lilly thought to herself as she watched her daughter's graceful form race through the bright, fresh, new grass. _Such a beautiful girl. I can hardly imagine what Troy looks like. Probably big and strong and _perfect_ just like Garth!_

Luna briefly skidded to a halt to stop and literally sniff the flowers. She buried her nose in the bright beauties and sneezed from the pollen.

_I'm glad she's an Omega_, Lilly admitted to herself. _She'd still be loud, over active, bit of a show-off, and sort of a trouble-maker if she learned the ways of an Alpha. The Omega life has brought out the best parts of her: quiet, graceful, and kind. Fate, you were good to me._

Taking advantage of her pup slowing down, Lilly walked up and said, "You know, when the newest Alphas return, they usually let the future Head-Alphas start by hunting over at the caribou's favorite grazing spot. You know? Where your Uncle Humphrey likes to watch Aunt Kate? Why don't you try there for them first?" Lilly suggested.

Luna's head shot up from the flowers. Gold dust (pollen) speckled her nose. "Great idea mom! Want me to wait for you?"

Lilly giggled. "No, that's okay. I'll catch up."

Luna licked Lilly's cheek affectionately before bounding ahead. Lilly remembered sadly how she had reacted when she found out what role the pack chose for her. Now, it brought Lilly much joy to see how well being an Omega had been to Luna.

And Luna was happy too. She was able to be herself. Not the obnoxious and selfish Alpha she thought she was supposed to be.

She raced through the valley, using the Alpha moves she knew to help speed herself up. Finally, Luna skidded to a halt on the rock where her uncle watched the Alphas hunt with the other Omegas.

She had collided with a tan-gold wolf. "Jake! Be careful! I could've hurt you."

Jake shook dirt out of his fur. "Sorry. So, I guess you remembered who's coming home today, huh?"

Luna nodded vigorously. "Well, you came just in time," Jake gestured with his paw to the valley below. Through the grass, Luna could make out the forms of Troy, Jake's sister, Hayden, and Luna's grandfather, Tony.

Tony was hanging the farthest back. He was probably assessing the two young wolves **(A/N: Yes, I know Humphrey said he and Kate had a third pup. Find out what happened to that in the next story!)**

Troy whispered to Hayden, "Psst! Hayden, do you know the plan?"

Hayden nodded and Troy nodded back. They turned back to a caribou they had found. It was grazing by itself; oblivious to the fact two young wolves were going to use it for their first official hunt.

Troy was about to pounce, but felt a paw tap his shoulder. Annoyed, he glared at his cousin Hayden. She pointed to the hill above them. There, Luna and Jake waved.

Troy grinned. The sight of his grown sister was encourage-ment. He suddenly knew he could do a good hunt if he was trying to impress her.

Troy crept closer. He raised his tail for only Hayden to see. She growled softly to signal she had seen. Troy leaped in, growling. He snapped at the caribou's legs and tried to lead it towards his cousin. She jumped, landing with her jaws on the prey's neck. It struggled and nearly threw her off, but Troy had managed to leap onto its back and sink his teeth into the other side of its throat. Finally, the prey seized its struggles and sank to the ground, dying. Tony trotted in to give it a final death bite.

"Well done students," he praised after spitting out some caribou fur.

Troy and Hayden smiled and stood straighter. They suddenly heard rumbling. Tony gasped. "I'd recognize that anywhere! Get to the sides, now!" he ordered. He ran out of the way.

"We have this caribou. We can't waste it. It's our first kill!" Hayden protested, although Tony was out of earshot.

"We can carry it," Troy replied calmly.

They each picked up an end of the prey and began to drag it out of the way, but they couldn't carry it in time. In the distance, they saw three more caribou running towards them at top speed. Hayden gasped, which made her drop her part of the kill. She ran to crouch beside Tony. Troy was less willing to leave, but he finally came to his senses and cleared out of the way of the miniature stampede. He was surprised the three caribou didn't notice they were running over their own herd member.

After some dust cleared, two young black and white wolves were revealed. Cantu's daughters. They were panting as if they were the ones who had been chasing the three other caribou. One looked down to see the dead one that was half trampled.

"Hey! Look at how stupid they were," one said to her sister. "They trampled their own member. Technically, we did get one!"

"You didn't do that!" Troy snarled angrily. He stomped up to them. "Hayden and I killed it. All you did was ruin it!"

"Back off!" the other sister growled at him. "Don't yell at us! It was a simple mistake. Your mother would know about that," she added, looking at Hayden.

Hayden growled. "That's not fair! Her first hunt was interrupted by trespassers. It wasn't her fault."

"Don't drag innocent wolves into this," Troy put in.

"Then stop yelling at me!" the second wolf growled. "It was her who stepped on a twig!" she pointed to her sister. "She's the one who started it!"

"I'm your sister!"

"And _they're_ the Head-Alpha's pups. I'm not going to get them mad!" the second-sister snarled soft enough for only her littermate to hear.

"Traitor," the first wolf muttered.

Hayden growled again. "If you blame my mother for anything else, I will personally rip your—"

"Looks like its time to show_ our_ new skills off," Luna told Jake at the top of the hill. He nodded in agreement and the two slid down.

"Hey, hey, hey." Jake interrupted his sister's scary threat.

"There's no need for violence. What if someone in the other packs was watching? This arguing would give us a bad rep!" Luna barked.

Cantu's daughters snorted. "And why would the Southern or Northern pack visit us?" the second one questioned.

"Maybe because they heard how you two and Hayden are so beautiful and couldn't resist seeing it for themselves," Luna patted her cousin on the back. The black and white sisters did smile at the compliment.

"Or wanted to tryout some of our famous log sledding!" Jake suggested, giving a play bow and wagging his tail. Only Troy laughed at that.

"Both are very likely reasons."

All heads turned to see two Alphas padding up to them. It was Garth, Humphrey, and Kate. Garth had been the one that spoke. Lilly came running up from behind to join them.

"Especially that beauty one," Kate smiled.

Cantu's daughters scrambled backwards with slight embarrassment at being so close to such high ranking wolves.

Cantu appeared at the top of the hill. "Delilah! Maggie! Get back to the den. Tony said you two were stirring up trouble," he called. Delilah and Maggie whimpered and bowed their heads. They crawled up the hill and followed Cantu back to their family's den.

Garth chuckled with amusement before walking closer to his son and rubbing him between the ears with a paw. "At least you two caught _something_. You still made me proud." He turned to Luna and nuzzled her. "And you! You're as beautiful as your mother! Eyes and everything."

Luna knew it was true because she began to blush just like her mother always did.

"Yes, but its easier to see those eyes," Lilly spoke up. "Her fur doesn't fall over them as often as mine. Speaking of which…" Lilly paused to blow her fur out of her left eye.

While Kate and Humphrey started to catch up with their pups, Troy looked at his sister. "Oh my gosh! You've grown so much! I've missed you too," he added rubbing the side of his face to hers.

"I did too. And what do you mean me? You're the big and strong one!" Luna replied as she circled around him.

Troy scoffed modestly. "Oh please. People are more attracted to beauty than brawn."

Lilly looked at Garth and then back at her son. "Attracted? Does someone want a dating partner?"

Luna giggled.

"Mom!" Troy growled with embarrassment.

Garth chuckled. "Okay, Lilly, The pack still needs to be fed. Why don't you girls catch up with Troy some more while Kate and I go catch some real dinner?"

Troy looked at his paws. "I'm sorry about that dad. But it was Cantu's girls who ruined it! Why did Delilah and Maggie have to mess up everything?"

"It wasn't your fault Troy," Garth assured. "Accidents happen. And so do stampedes. It was our faults for assigning you hunting spots so close to each other."

"Nothing could ever be your fault, dad," Luna spoke. "You're the greatest Alpha ever! And Troy, you will be the next generation of greatness!"

Troy smiled at his sister.

Kate walked up to her sister's family. "Actually, I think since Garth, Humphrey, Lilly, and I are Head-Alphas this year, maybe no one would mind if they joined us on our next hunt…" she offered.

Garth looked at his son. "You're not too tired?"

Troy beamed. "No! Not at all! I can do another hunt."

"This one can go uninterrupted since Cantu is giving his girls a stern talking to," Hayden assured.

Troy wagged his tail which made Garth laugh a little. He turned to his mate. "I'll be back soon my little turtle," he promised Lilly.

She touched her nose to his. "Be safe."

Luna licked her brother's cheek. "Come back soon."

"I'm going to go hunting, not sacrifice myself!" Troy joked good-naturedly.

"Just…watch out for stampedes. You know what happened to Stella?" Luna warned. Troy nodded before following his father and aunt to where they would try hunting. Hayden was trotting at their heels.

Luna sighed. "How is it that the moment I get my brother back, he has to go away again?" she demanded with a stomp of the foot.

Lilly tried not to show her amusement. Her daughter was obviously serious. "It's an Alpha thing dear. Something we'll have to face."

"But you married dad which made you an Alpha too! It isn't fair that at least you can't go," Luna argued. She was starting to sound like the Alpha Luna.

"I know. But I'm just not as good a hunter as the others," Lilly replied.

"Neither am I," the females turned to see Humphrey trotting up to them. "But I'm not letting me spirits down because of it. Neither should you!" he declared. Jake appeared behind his father. He was nodding with agreement. "So true," he put in.

Luna giggled. "Okay Uncle Humphrey. We'll try not to make such a big fuss about this," she promised. Jake cleared his throat.

"Okay to you too, Jakey," Lilly dipped her head with a friendly smile. Jake tried to ignore the fact he didn't like that nickname.

"C'mon Luna," Lilly gestured with her head back to their den. The mother and daughter walked back to their home. Humphrey and Jake did the same.

After they were halfway there, Lilly finally spoke, "So? Having an Alpha brother becoming annoying yet?"

Luna scoffed good-naturedly. "Absolutely!" she waited a moment before continuing sadly, "Mom? Can I confess something?"

"Anything."

"The reason why I reacted so wildly to becoming an Omega was just because…I was scared. Even though you're an Alpha now, Dad's barely home because he's so busy with his duties. I love to be around my brother and do stuff with him…but I was afraid he'd be too busy for me," Luna confessed.

Lilly smiled. She didn't have to guess anymore. "Luna, you seem afraid the Alpha life will make him forget about you. But you two are so close! Nothing will ever separate you. And he's not the only Alpha in the pack. Why do you think we have more Alphas then Omegas? So that while some Alphas carry out duties, others can spend time with their families!" Lilly explained.

"I never noticed," Luna murmured half to herself.

Lilly chuckled. She suddenly paused and pricked her ears, looking in all directions. Luna stopped as well. "What is it mother?" she questioned.

Just as Lilly opened her muzzle to reply, Hutch came running up from behind her. He was panting and looked very worried.

"Hutch! What happened?" Lilly fretted.

"Lilly," Hutch stopped to catch his breath some more. "You...your… your parents! They need to speak with you. Right away!"

"We'll be there as fast as we can."

Luna pricked her ears. Her mother just said _we_. That meant she would finally get to see what was going on!

"Where is Garth?" Hutch asked.

"He went hunting. He should be close to the Northern Pack's border. Luna, will you fetch him?"

Luna nodded, but before she could move at all, Hutch interrupted. "Northern? Oh no! That's where the danger was coming from!"

Lilly and Luna's eyes widened. "Troy! Daddy!" Luna squeaked worriedly.

Hutch turned tail and ran to Winston and Eve's den. Lilly and Luna pelted after him. Lilly knew exactly what her son would say if he was here:

"Whoops."

**Well, well, well. What danger awaits Troy and Garth at the Northern border? Looks like you'll have to wait for chapter 3 to know! Aren't I annoying? Feel free to review. If your Flame is unnecessary, I will introduce Eve to a chainsaw! Toodles!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I'm going to try and keep this A/N short and sweet. I don't own any Alpha and Omega characters from the movie. What we will see today: What is up with the Northern Pack? Are Garth, Kate, Hayden, and Troy in danger? Find out: **

"So how much trouble do you think Delilah and Maggie are in now?" Hayden asked.

The four wolves were walking close to the Northern Pack border. The land was becoming less grassy, and more just dirt with snow patches that were late to melt dotting here and there. Usually, the land on Northern Pack was beautiful, like the Western Valley. This landscape was usually found in Southern Pack territory.

Troy thought for a moment. Garth answered instead, "It probably wasn't too bad. After all, it's not like they killed anyone. They just argued with the future Head-Alphas."

"But Cantu is a very strict parent," Troy put in. "He's probably lecturing them so badly, they wish Eve would turn their ears inside out."

Hayden laughed. "Yeah!" she agreed. "I bet he's going to assign them so much stuff to do tomorrow, they'll be falling asleep on their paws by sunrise tomorrow!"

Kate looked at her daughter. "What is it that made you want to see them tortured so badly?" she wondered aloud.

"Maggie insulted you!" Hayden replied defiantly. "If Grandma Eve were there, she would've been personally asking Maggie for her tail before you could say 'Holy Caribou.'"

"Honestly? I appreciate the loyalty dear, but aren't Maggie and Delilah your friends?" Kate said.

"Well…that was…was just Alpha School…" Hayden stammered, looking at her paws awkwardly.

Troy defended her. "Still, they _did_ ruin the pack's meal from carelessness. They made us lose one more piece of precious prey. The pack would've gone hungry if it weren't for us!"

Garth stifled a snort of amusement. "Troy, we aren't the only Alphas in the pack. Others know how to hunt too. The pack wouldn't go hungry."

"Some wolves like dessert…" Troy muttered, making Hayden laugh

Kate shot a sideways glance at her brother-in-law. "Including your mate," she teased softly.

"Now is not the time to team up against me!" he growled at the same volume.

"Hush!" Hayden hissed. She had stopped and was sniffing the air. She brightened. "I scent our next meal."

* * *

><p>Lilly ran after Hutch and into her parents' cave. Hutch held up a paw to tell Lilly to wait. He poked his head through the doorway entrance and panted before reporting to Eve and Winston. "Sir, I fetched your daughter and granddaughter."<p>

Lilly began to walk in. "Good job keeping up with us, Loony." She suddenly stopped with wide eyes and whipped her head around to face her pup. "Wait—Luna! What are you doing here?"

Luna was confused. "Wha…I thought you needed me."

"I needed you to find your brother and father before they ran into—" Lilly was cut off as Humphrey appeared in the doorway next to her.

"Lilly," his bright blue eyes were filled with concern. "Come inside. Something's happening."

Lilly let out a tiny whimper before following. Luna followed her mother. Inside the cave, Jake, Humphrey, Winston, Eve, and Tony were sitting in a circle. Hutch was standing between Tony and Winston.

"Dad…?" Lilly began.

"Lilly! Glad to see you're here," Winston welcomed with a casually warm smile.

Lilly wasn't convinced. "Dad, what's happened? What's going on with the Northern Pack?"

Eve put a paw on her mate's. "She's no idiot. Don't pretend. Like I said, it's probably nothing."

"I don't recall that at all," Jake muttered in Luna's ear.

Winston sighed. As he looked up, his eyes seemed to fade away into something far and distant.

"The Northern Pack and Southern Pack are packs that are quite new to Jasper Pack," that part was probably meant to Jake and Luna, who weren't born when the newer packs had arrived. Winston went on, "Being less experienced with ruling, they saw last year's uniting of us older packs as a threat to them. The Northern Pack's head-Alpha is usually a calm and thoughtful wolf. But he had a pup with a Southern Pack female. No one knew at the time, so he was raised with his mother, and adapted to the Southern pack's fierce, and selfish personality all too well. Now, the Northern Alpha has died and his last breath revealed his love-life with her. So those two packs are now united as well. But the Alpha's mother is gravely ill, leaving their son to rule this new, united pack. He has been very cross with us, but we aren't sure why. A few Omegas spotted some trespassing Northern wolves. They were attacked by them."

Eve interrupted by growling fiercely.

"The Omegas fled, but we all doubt that the Northern wolves left our territory."

"Who is this new leader?" Humphrey demanded. "If he orders his trespassers to attack Kate and Hayden, I'll tear him apart, limb from limb!"

"I'll join you!" Eve jumped to her paws. She swiped her claws through the air. "Why…I'll start with his tail. I'll rip it off him and shove it up his—!"

"Mother!" Lilly squeaked. "Not in front of Luna and Jake."

Eve put her claws down and sat back down beside her mate. "I was just going to say nose. Sheesh," she muttered.

Winston blinked. He always got distracted by how violent Eve could be. He shook the freaked out look off his face. He turned to Hutch.

Before he could tell his second-in-command what to do, Luna blurted out, "But Garth and Troy are at the border! So are Hayden and Auntie Kate!"

Eve snapped. She leapt to her paws with a frightening snarl. "C'mon Winston! Looks like I'll be ripping out a few tails sooner than expected."

Winston stood up more slowly. He put a paw on his furious mate's shoulder. "Calm down Eve. Remember, your not as young as you used to be…"

Eve let out an offended squeak.

Winston turned back to Hutch. "Hutch, send our best Alphas to the border to assist Garth, Kate and their pups. But do not attack any wolves if they haven't attacked first. Make sure the patrol knows that."

Hutch nodded and began to trot outside.

Humphrey stopped him. "Wait, dad." When Hutch stopped to hear what Humphrey had to say over his shoulder. Humphrey looked at Winston. "Let me go. At least me. That's my mate, my daughter, my nephew, and my friend in trouble. If any wolf deserves to help, it's me. Please?"

Winston smiled. "Humphrey, you'll be a Head-Alpha soon. You shouldn't need to ask my permission anymore."

Humphrey dipped his head. "Sorry. Force of habit."

And the grey and white wolf ran out with Hutch in the lead. Jake whimpered and felt as though Lilly had read her thoughts. "Can I go too?"

Eve stood up. "I would rather not! I already have one daughter and two grandkids I'm worrying about. I don't want to worry about another."

"But—"

"Please don't," Eve pleaded.

Luna leaned in to whisper to Jake, "That's not fair. Granddad just said they shouldn't have to take orders from them anymore."

Jake sighed. "They just don't think we can do anything."

"I can do whatever I want to," Luna hissed. She stood up and walked out. She was surprised, but also pleased to find her mother following.

"I'm sorry we can't help them out, Luna. It's another Omega thing," Lilly said softly.

Luna stopped. Lilly actually thought she was leading the way home! Luna may have been an Omega now, but she wouldn't give up as quick as one! She turned around to face her mother.

"You think I'm going to give in to their orders? Grandpa just said you'll be the new Head-Alphas soon! And that you shouldn't have to take his orders anymore! What happened to that?"

Lilly sighed. Luna did the same. She looked at her paws, expecting a huge speech on how Omegas can't help do anything but crack jokes or something. But to her shock, she noticed her mother stand straighter, with a fiery and rebellious look in her eyes.

"You're right. I'm not a pup anymore. I'm going to be leading a pack soon. It's time I started listening to myself, and not others. C'mon Luna. We're going to do something that'll actually help someone."

Luna wagged her reddish tail. _Score one for the Omegas!_ she cheered in her head. _And go Mom!_

* * *

><p>Troy scratched behind his ear. "I think this place is infested with fleas!" he complained. "I can't stop scratching!"<p>

"Me either!" Hayden agreed, nibbling on her hind paw.

Kate giggled. "I tried to tell you, that bush you were hiding in looked suspicious."

"Is anyone going to help me out here?" Garth called. He was standing on one side of the dead caribou they had caught. It was smaller than the ones that were usually found in the valley, but still heavy.

Kate walked over to him. "It's a shame that Garth doesn't have another big, strong male to lend a paw," she said, looking at Troy. The young wolf just continued scratching.

Garth rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "C'mon. Let's just carry it back to the pack. The others are probably starving."

"I hope you mean _our_ pack."

Garth turned around to see a bush's branches part to reveal a muscular male pale brown and light gray wolf with amber eyes. He was closely followed by a brown and white wolf with icy-blue eyes and a dark brown wolf with darker brown stripes with blue eyes.

Kate slowly stepped backwards to stand in front of Hayden and Troy.

Garth looked at them calmly. "And exactly, why would we give your pack _our_ hard-earned prey?"

The amber-eyed wolf pretended to think. "Hmm…maybe because it was on _our_ territory. And we saw it first anyways."

"This isn't your territory!" Kate argued. "This is close, but it isn't."

"It is too!" the brown striped wolf snarled. He pointed with a paw to something behind the four other wolves. "That tree marks where the borderline is! And it is _behind_ you."

"Well, maybe we crossed it by accident. You really should get back to marking them regularly," Garth suggested. "Then, we would know where to stop."

Meanwhile, Troy was busy recognizing his friend from Alpha School. He trotted up to the brown and white wolf. "Nick! Hey, buddy. How's it hanging?"

To Troy's surprise, his old friend raked his claws across Troy's face. Troy yelped with pain and scrambled backwards. Kate ran over to him and herded him away from the Northern wolves' view, sending Hayden scrambling back to avoid getting run over by her cousin.

Garth whipped his head around to look at the Northern wolves. "Was that necessary? He happens to be my son. He was just saying hi."

Nick looked at his paws. "Alpha's orders say intruders are never your friends. My loyalty lies with my pack, not somebody I met an entire winter ago," he added with a growl at Garth.

Garth turned his attention to what seemed to be the leader of the patrol. "Max," he addressed the pale brown and gray wolf. "We didn't mean to intrude on your territory. Like I said, if you got back to patrolling them regularly, we would know where the scent marker is."

"What a minute!" Hayden stomped up from behind Kate. "A tree isn't the borderline! I remember when we were being showed all the territories in Alpha School. Mom praised me for noticing that all the borders were marked with a stream or river. There isn't another river for one or two miles!"

Kate narrowed her eyes and growled at the Northern wolves. "My daughter speaks the truth. Who's the intruder now?"

Garth did the same. "We're not idiots. You didn't think we would notice?"

Max snarled. "We're just loyal to our Head-Alpha. With all due respect, Barf, we're following his orders when I say—"

"Attack!" the brown-striped wolf leaped for Garth.

"Only I am permitted to call him that!"

Suddenly, a gray flash flew over Garth's head and into the brown wolf. Humphrey pinned him down and snarled in his face.

"Hawk!" Max scolded. "Seth told you to wait until I had given the signal! You're always too ready for a fight!"

"That should be of help to you," Hawk growled. He kicked Humphrey in the stomach, which sent him flying away. Before Humphrey could stand up, Hawk was upon him, with his teeth sinking deep into Humphrey's shoulder, a little too close to his throat.

"Dad!" Hayden cried. Without thinking, she darted to Hawk and tried to knock him over by crashing into his shoulder, head-first.

The surprise managed to budge him, but not without him ripping out some of Humphrey's fur, making the former Omega cry out in pain.

Kate dashed in to assist her daughter, but Max ran in and pounced on her, pinning her to the ground. Garth ran in, sinking his teeth into Max's neck. Meanwhile, Troy pounced at Nick and pinned him down easily.

"I thought we were friends!" Troy hissed in his face.

"We are," Nick whimpered. "But my pack wanted this attack. I'm sorry."

Troy sank his teeth into Nick's foreleg and didn't let go.

Garth had tackled Max off of Kate and was wrestling with him, each male struggling to pin the other down. Finally, Max was on top. He raised his claws to wound Garth, but was suddenly knocked over by a black and white form. Hutch had him pinned down with a paw on the enemy Alpha's throat.

"There's probably others!" Hutch shouted to the three wolves that had come with him and Humphrey. The three other wolves pelted past the battling wolves and towards some bushes where another wolf would most likely hide. Sure enough, they skidded to a shocked halt to find more Northern wolves jump out and begin attacking. Garth's pack was outnumbered.

A light grey and white female jumped out and wrapped her paws around his neck. She jerked her arms downward, forcing Garth down and hitting his face. She stood on top of him, forcing his head down with a paw on the back of his head.

The female looked up to see lavender-colored eyes glaring at her like daggers. "Get off my mate," their owner growled. Claws raked the entire left side of the female's face and she jumped backwards with stinging pain. Lilly slashed her shoulder then tripped her by clawing her forelegs.

As for Troy, another Northern wolf knocked him off of Nick and as he stumbled to his paws, the same wolf rushed in and bit his neck. Troy tried to call for help, but all that came out was a choking yelp of pain.

"You leave my brother _alone_!" Troy was more than surprised to hear his sister's voice. He suddenly saw her bright white pelt and red tail come crashing in and head-butt the wolf off of Troy. She snarled at the wolf who was a handsome gray male with lighter gray forming a stripe from his nose and disappearing somewhere at the top of his head (you will later learn his name is Logan).

For some strange reason, Luna didn't want to attack this wolf. Instead, she turned her attention to another she-wolf who was pelting for her mother who had her back turned. Luna ran towards the she-wolf. She was a cream-color with a tan-golden colored left ear, right eye patch, tail-tip, and paws.

Luna raced up and at the speed of light, reared up on her hind legs and pushed the other she-wolf over with her forepaws. The wolf rolled over in the dirt, whimpering with pain once she was still. Luna ran over to stand threateningly over her. "Leave here right now, or I'll tear you apart!"

The creamy wolf scrambled to her paws with tail between her legs. "Okay, okay, I'm going! I didn't even want this stupid attack to happen!"

"Then you shouldn't have encouraged it!" Luna snarled as the cream-colored wolf ran back to her own territory.

As Luna turned around, she felt claws rake her muzzle. She yelped with pain and Troy was at her side as if it was his cue. Together, the two littermates fought off the Northern wolf as if fighting was something they had done a million times before.

As for their parents, Lilly was ripping some sensitive ear flesh off of Nick while Garth was raking the belly of a wolf he had pinned down. Both sent their wolf fleeing back home with terror.

Garth panted and ran up to Lilly. A black wolf had come up and pinned her down. He sank his teeth into her neck and wasn't letting go. Garth came up, sank his teeth into the wolf's ear and jerked his head backwards. The wolf let out a loud cry of pain as half of his ear was ripped away.

Garth spat it out. "Get away from my mate or I'll kill you!"

"Not if I kill you first," the wolf retorted.

Lilly looked up and saw Luna get flung across the battlefield. She landed on her side and before she could get up, two wolves jumped on her. One raked his claws across her flanks, and the other one bit her throat.

"My pup!" Lilly screeched. Her motherhood mixed with her Eve traits, which made her easily fling the black wolf off her and dashed to her daughter's aid. She bit into the neck of the one biting her daughter and flung him to where he hit his friend. Both were sent spiraling away.

Lilly helped Luna to her paws. "I'm started to have second thoughts about this," Lilly breathed.

"No way!" Luna's eyes gleamed. "I'm helping my brother and packmates! I've never felt so useful in my life!" And with that, Luna flung herself at a large male and began clawing at his chest and forelegs until he sank to the ground.

The battle raged on for much longer. The Northern wolves still had their opponent outnumbered. The odds didn't look too well for a young wolf that just got home from Alpha school.

* * *

><p>Eve was getting nervous. She had begun to gnaw on bones and snapped another one in two. She threw the pieces into the pile of other bones snapped into two pieces before starting to gnaw another one.<p>

Winston was worried too. "Don't worry Eve. Lilly and Luna are safe in their den with Jake. Kate and Humphrey can protect themselves and our grandkids."

"So will Garth," Tony added. He was lying at the entrance of Winston and Eve's cave, waiting just as anxiously as they were.

Finally, Jake came running up to the older wolves, panting breathlessly. "Grandma! Grandpa!"

Eve and Winston stood up, ears perked.

Jake took a deep breath. He must've run a long way. He gulped before speaking again. "The rescue party is back. They look pretty bad."

Eve whimpered. "Bring the worst ones here immediately."

Jake blinked.

"I meant tell them to come here immediately. Honestly, do you expect me to ask you to carry your bleeding packmates across the field and climb up with them on your back to get into this den?"

"Uh…" Jake decided not to answer. He turned tail and raced back where her came. Winston and Eve trotted after him, Tony at their heels.

"Tell Luna and Lilly to help," Winston called.

Jake came to a sudden halt. He turned around and looked at his grandparents. "Luna and Lilly? But…they're not here."

The three Head-Alphas stopped as well. Winston tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they left behind the rescue patrol. I thought you told them to, so I didn't say anything," Jake replied.

Eve's eyes widened.

"Jake, we told them to stay here," Winston said, hiding the growing panic inside of him.

"Lilly isn't the exactly among the best fighters! Where are they?" Eve fretted.

"I…" Jake shuffled his paws.

"Jake, it's not like your in trouble. Just tell us. No need to be nervous," Tony assured.

Jake looked up. "Aunt Lilly…well…"

"Well what?" Eve pressed which made Jake even more pressured.

"Well…" Jake said the next part rather quickly. "Troy and Luna had disappeared in the fight which made Aunt Lilly freak out and run away to find them and Uncle Garth followed after them. Now all four of them are gone."

Winston and Tony didn't exactly catch the first part, but the second part did make them worried. Eve heard it all… and fainted.

**So? Do I leave a good cliffhanger? Chapter 4 coming soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Apologize for the delay. Computer got ill. So did my grandmother. Garth, Humphrey, Winston, and Lilly are © of Lionsgate. Today's chapter: Where have Lilly and her family disappeared to? Will they find Luna? First?**

* * *

><p><em>Where am I?<em> was the first thought that came to Luna when she blinked awake. She put a paw to her head. _That hurts. It really hurts_… she noticed.

She looked around. She was in an unfamiliar cave. It had a darker lighting than the ones at her home. She tried to sit up, but her legs simply gave way and she fell onto her belly.

A wolf appeared in the cave entrance. The sunrise outlined his frame. She snarled at the wolf who was a handsome gray male with lighter gray forming a stripe from his nose and disappearing somewhere at the top of his head. He just grinned and walked towards her.

"Don't come any closer. Or…or I'll rip you paws off and—"

"No need for hostility," the male interrupted. "Would I ever harm anything so lovely?"

The wolf had halted in the middle of the cave. Luna prayed it was enough distance to hide her blush. She looked away from him.

"What's your name charming?"

"Luna," Luna answered softly.

"I like that name," the wolf replied, flicking his tail.

"What's yours?" Luna asked, pricking her ears and trying to sound more friendly.

"My friends call me Logan."

"Are you a Northern wolf?" Luna tried to hide panic. The name sounded familiar to her, but it certainly wasn't the name of any wolf she had ever seen in her pack.

"What's wrong with Northern wolves?" Logan tilted his head.

"They attacked my family. I hate them. Their leader is such a cruel and selfish Alpha wolf. I think he wants to start a war or something."

"Sounds awful. No, I'm a lone wolf," Logan assured. "I saw you lying in a river just down the mountain. "You looked badly injured. You must feel lucky I came when I did."

"I do," Luna responded, flattening her ears with a little embarrassment. She suddenly tensed. "Where's my brother? He was with me in that river."

"Calm down. I was going to go back for him. But this white wolf and red male came and took him before I could. Are they friends of yours?"

Luna sighed with my relief. "More than that. They're my parents."

"So he's safe?"

Luna nodded.

"That's a weight off your shoulders."

Luna looked at him. "More like the other way around. You see, he's older than me and he's an Alpha so he feels as though he has to be my personal guard or something. I mean…I love him for that, but I just want to be able to prove I can do things for myself too, you know?"

Logan nodded. "Boy, do I," he nodded. He shook his head and looked at her in confusion. "Wait…you're an Omega?"

Luna nodded a yes.

"And he's an Alpha? Well, that's not very fair, is it?"

"No…it's not," bad memories came flooding back to Luna. "I know. But I had one Alpha and one Omega parent. Only one of us could be one of each."

"And they chose you to be the Omega? That's a crime!"

"Oh, but you should meet my brother. He's very strong and athletic. And he's a whole lot better at all the fancy flips and leaps than I am."

"Well judging from those wounds you had yesterday, I think you at least put up a good fight."

Luna growled playfully. Logan pretended to whimper and shrink backwards. It made Luna giggle. "Are you an Omega too?" she asked with a tilted head.

Logan stood up and turned his back to her. Luna noticed his head was hanging low. "Er…no. Just a lone wolf."

"Surely you had a pack once? Where did your parents come from?"

Logan turned his head to look at her again. "That…that doesn't matter! Eat up," he added, picking up a dead bird in his jaws. "I caught it myself. And do you have any idea how hard that is on your own?"

Luna shook her head and bit into the duck. She immediately spat it out.

"What? You don't like duck?" Logan asked with a bit of offense in his voice.

Luna looked over the duck. She realized it was a female. She sighed with relief. "No…it tastes good. It's just…I'm uncomfortable eating ducks since my aunt and uncle are friends with one."

"Friends with a duck?"

"Mh-hmm. And a goose. Have you ever heard of a game called golf?"

Logan shook his head. "Isn't it that game where humans hit small balls with metal sticks?"

"Something like that. It's just something birds play. I think they're trying to teach us how to play…"

"Is it something you like playing? Would you want to give it a go right now?" Logan offered.

Luna shook her head quickly and held up a paw. "Oh! No thanks…however, my uncle invented this game with his friends," she began. She tried to sit up, but it was a little difficult. "They call it log-sledding. It's quite fun. You should try it sometime."

"I'll keep that in mind," Logan grinned. He noticed Luna's legs shaking to keep her up. "You should probably lie back down. I think your legs are trying to say they're too tired."

"I'm fine!" Luna snapped. She cleared her throat. "I mean…I don't feel tired. How long was I out?"

"Hard to say…" Logan tried to think. "I think it was from when you hit your head on so many rocks."

"Rocks? I only hit my head on one…"

"I couldn't agree less. I saw the whole thing. First, you were running away from those wolves with that male—your brother, right?"

Luna nodded.

"Then, you slipped and fell into the river. The rain was making it flood, so there were more rapids than usual. You brother followed you, though I don't remember how. I saw your parents running beside the river, shouting. But the river was faster. You and you littermate were swept into the foaming parts of the river. You hit your head on this huge rock and I think it made the rest feel numb. But you definitely got hit with some more. So did your bro. Finally, the water calmed down and the two of you were swept onto the shallower parts. You were barely conscious. You brother was really weak. I went straight for you…well because of the ladies first rule, of course! I went back for your brother, but your parents were already dragging him away with them…"

Luna was listening intently. "You're a very good narrator," she murmured.

"Thanks. Sorry, I always monologue like that," Logan rolled his eyes at himself. "My point is, you probably didn't feel so many hits because the first one was worst and made your head feel numb. Brain is in the head you know. Memories are in the brain."

"Yeah…I get it," Luna said, feeling a little foolish. Memories of the day before made her head hurt more. And she felt bad just leaving her parents and brother (even though it wasn't her fault!) To change the subject, Luna bit down into some more duck.

She pricked her ears. "Where's your part? This bird isn't enough to feed the both of us!" she exclaimed.

Logan dipped his head modestly. "Well…the health of you is more important than me…someone would miss you more if you starved to death out here!"

"Where am I anyway?"

"The mountains. Lucky for you, you're still in Jasper Park. Your family can't be far."

Luna sighed with relief. "Well…I don't exactly know this part of Jasper too well. I'll need a guide…"

"You're looking at a perfectly good one."

"Fine by me. But my guide will need food to keep his strengths up…" she hinted.

"Are you always this good at conning people?"

"Annoying isn't it?"

"Very." Logan sighed with defeat. "C'mon," he said after a short while. "You win, pack wolf."

Luna couldn't help but smirk. "I always win…"

* * *

><p>Garth blinked awake. Sunlight poured through the roof of his den and into his face. He felt Lilly's gentle breathing rhythm beside him. For a moment, the events of the previous day seemed like some sort of a bad dream. But his son proved Garth wrong.<p>

The three wolves had slept in a den that Garth had made last night. Garth had made a space for about four wolves with a protective barrier circling around it made of tree roots and brambles (the roots were still connected to the old tree). Troy was sitting tall, looking down at his father.

"Where's Luna?" he demanded. Since he had such a wild ride last night, he didn't remember much.

Garth gave a tired sigh and sat up carefully, so as not to wake Lilly. Last night was so stressful for the worried mother, he didn't want her to miss a wink of sleep.

"I don't know," he confessed. "But I'm sure-"

Garth was cut off as his son pushed a piece of the tree's roots away and walked out. Garth stood and followed, forgetting to be careful about disturbing Lilly.

"Troy, wait!" Garth called.

Troy didn't stop walking. He looked over his shoulder. "For what? Luna's an Omega. Nobody taught her how to survive on her own! She needs us _now_. No time for waiting."

Garth broke into a run to stand in front of the younger Alpha. "Troy, I'm not going to disagree with you. But at least remember your mother."

"No need."

The two males looked behind Troy to see Lilly trotting up. "I remembered myself," she woofed. She even padded ahead of them. "Where are we anyways Garth?"

Garth looked around. "Hmm…I can't tell. If we're lucky, Eastern territory or even outside of Jasper. We wouldn't want to be in Northern territory right now."

Troy shook his head.

Lilly took a deep sniff. She pricked her ears. "Someone's coming," she whispered.

Before they could do anything, a pair of bushes near the family began to rustle and shake violently. Lilly tensed and Garth ran up to stand in front of her, snarling at the newcomers. Troy stood behind his father and mother.

The bush's branches parted and revealed Winston.

"Dad!" Lilly exclaimed. She nosed Garth aside with her nose to look at him better.

"Lilly! Garth!" Winston gasped. Humphrey appeared beside him, followed by some former Eastern wolves.

"What're you all doing here?" Troy asked.

"We're a search party," Humphrey explained. "We've been looking all over for the four of you."

"Is Luna with you?" Lilly demanded.

"Um…no," replied a confused Humphrey. "That's kinda the idea of a search party. To search for her and you."

"We assumed you were with Luna," Winston put in.

"She's not. And if she's not here, then I must go find her," Lilly announced and turned tail and raced through the forest.

"I will join her," Troy said in the same tone. He followed his mother.

Garth watched them go and turned to the other wolves with a sigh. "You know what they say. A family that goes missing together searches together."

And he followed his family.

"After them! They're about to go into Northern Pack territory," Winston ordered the wolves behind him. They darted past him while his older bones made him run more slowly behind.

Lilly sped through the forest at top speed. She was vaguely aware of her mate and son behind her.

_It's nice that they're loyal,_ she thought. _But Dad needs to learn that I'm a grown wolf. He can't boss me around anymore! He of all wolves should know that nothing will stop a wolf from helping their pup. Nothing._

* * *

><p>Luna giggled as she chased a squirrel around in the snow. She knew it was mean, but could she help it if she was having fun? She and Logan had traveled down the mountain in search of prey. Luna didn't want to hunt because she wasn't the best at it, but Logan had figured out a way for her distracting behavior to be helpful. It fled from her and tripped right into Logan's claws. He gave it a swift bite to the throat to finish it off.<p>

"And you say you're not a good hunter," Logan scoffed at her. "This is the fattest squirrel I've seen all winter. You really have an eagle's eye if I say so myself."

Luna blushed. "Gee…thanks! Really. We do make a great team don't we?" _Great,_ she thought. _I sound like Uncle Humphrey now…._

She shook her head and pawed some snow aside to reveal the duck from earlier she had buried. She pulled it out and crouched to begin eating. Logan took a bite out of the squirrel.

"Happy now?" he asked after swallowing one bite. "I'm eating."

"Yes I am," replied Luna, flicking her fluffy red tail.

Logan grinned with amusement and went back to eating. The two ate in silence. Logan looked rather nervous. He swallowed loudly and sat up.

"So…" he shuffled his paws awkwardly. "Luna? If we don't find your pack…I mean-that is if you _want_ the lone wolf life…I do get sort of lonely-this lone wolf business…well-would you even consider…?"

Luna gasped.

"Hey, if I don't look like a good adventurer partner, that's fine," Logan said, startled.

"No! I mean, Northern Pack wolves!" Luna pointed with a paw behind Logan and then raced in that direction.

Logan was surprised for a moment then shook it out of his fur and followed her. Omegas were fast runners!

The pair ran from the mountain range and towards what Luna had apparently seen. Once they were in thick forest, they both skidded to a halt to see Luna's parents and brother arguing with a group of Northern wolves.

"Oh no," they both said at the same time.

"Give us back our daughter," Garth growled at a brown wolf.

"We know you have her prisoner," Troy spat.

"And what would we want with one of your flea-bitten rats?" one of the enemy wolves hissed.

Luna walked into the light. "They don't have me. I was too hard for them to catch," she said calmly.

The Northern wolves growled at her. "Are you calling us slow?" the brown one demanded.

"No. Just that you run like a turtle," Luna retorted coolly.

Lilly laughed.

The Northern wolves snarled and took a threatening step towards her. Luna finally noticed Humphrey and his patrol. They all blocked the Northerners way.

"Don't even think about it," Humphrey snarled.

Luna was nearly tackled to the ground as three wolves slid to a halt in front of her and buried her in nuzzles and welcoming licks.

"Where were you?" Troy asked.

"Why would you run off?" Lilly asked.

"What was it like on your own?" Hayden asked.

"Did that gray Northerner hurt you?" Lilly questioned.

"Did you feel kidnapped?" Hayden's eyes widened.

"Did he starve you?" Troy tilted his head.

"Did he mistreat you?" Lilly growled.

Luna's head was spinning. "Enough!" she squeaked. "My head will fall off if I have to look at all of you at once!"

Her cousin, mother, and brother all apologized.

"But where _were_ you?" Troy repeated.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Lilly's eye widened. Her fur had fallen over the other one again.

"I know. But I was fine. I was safe with my friend," Luna gestured with a paw to Logan who was right beside her. Or so she thought. When Luna looked, she noticed no one there. Where had Logan gone?

Lilly looked around. "…your friend…who?"

Luna looked for Logan with puzzlement. "…no one," she finally said after a while.

"Are you feeling alright?" Troy fretted.

"I'm fine!" Luna said.

Garth walked up to them. "Okay, that's enough of having Luna under trial. We should go home before these Northerners snap again," he added with a suspicious glance over his shoulder at the snarling wolves.

"Okay," Lilly agreed softly.

The wolves began to walk back to their own territory. Luna looked over her shoulder one last time. Where was Logan?

* * *

><p>After the wolves arrived home life returned to normal. The Alphas hunted and brought the food to their families. The Omegas went log-sledding with Humphrey as the ring leader. The wolves around Troy's age were talking about Alpha School. The Omegas around Luna's age were begging them to shut up already.<p>

Speaking of Luna and Troy, Garth was bringing in dinner to his family. It was near the end of sunset, so he was awfully late. "You'd think with spring here, the caribou would be easier to find," he commented.

"Maybe they're all hiding cause they found out there was one more mouth we needed to feed," Luna joked about herself. Troy chuckled.

Lilly let out an amused 'hmm' and began to eat. Her family joined in. After a lot of silence, Luna asked, "Um, dad? Mom? What would you say if I was friends with a lone wolf?"

Garth spit out his un-chewed meat. Luna was surprised. Partially because it landed on her. "What…what? Is something wrong with being friends with a lone wolf?"

"Well…are you?"

Luna hesitated. It seemed like her dad didn't approve of lone wolves. "I…um…I was just hypothetically speaking."

"Lone wolves are untrustworthy, sweetie," Lilly said. "They've been known to be liars and con-wolves. Some would only be your friend for easy food."

"But he knew how to hunt!" Luna clamped her jaws shut. "I…I mean…what if they knew how to hunt?"

Troy didn't get why his sister was talking about this. But he couldn't help but come to her defense. "Wasn't Uncle Humphrey a lone wolf once?"

"That was for hardly three minutes," Garth shook his head.

"Luna, it's nice that you want to be friends with everyone," Lilly paused to blow her hair out of her left eye. "But…lone wolves just aren't the best people to be around. Trust us."

Luna looked at her paws. "I do."

Troy noticed she said it with a slightly depressed tone. It made him concerned.

Luna ate with anxiety gnawing at her belly. She had lied to her parents! Technically…

Luna twitched her tail-tip. The idea that her family didn't want her to be friends with Logan just tempted her to rebel all the more. She liked hanging out with him and let's face it…he was cute! What if she liked him? _I like a guy my parents don't approve of? Shame on me!_

Luna whimpered.

"What's the matter Loony?" Lilly tilted her snowy head.

"Bad meat," Luna mumbled. "Bad me…"

* * *

><p>Logan walked through the forest with a head set low. He felt guilty about mysteriously leaving Luna. But he couldn't let the Northern wolves see him! They'd have his pelt and use it for a rug in their leader, Seth's cave.<p>

Speak of the devil, two of Seth's closest friends walked out of the bushes, growling.

"Hey, loser," one of them smirked. It was Hawk.

Logan rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"You spent the night in your little cave, did you?" the other one questioned.

"So what if I did?"

"You know we were going to attack the United pack! Your pack needed your fighting skills! And now, you've made your brother upset. What kind of an Alpha are you?"

"What are you going to do about it?"

"We're going to take you to your big bro."

Logan tried to hide the fact he had tensed. "Anyone but Seth."

**Dun, dun, dun!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Today's chapter: Will Luna rebel against her parents? If she does, will anyone find out about it?**

Luna padded through the dark forest. It was extremely early in the morning. She had snuck out with only Troy catching her. She told him she was going to the river to drink. That wasn't entirely a lie. She really was thirsty.

After drinking, Luna looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then she padded to the waterfall and began to climb the steep cliff.

When she had reached the top, Luna was panting hard. "Whew," she gasped. "Good thing I practiced my mountain climbing. Because I'm not done."

Luna began to pad through the forest. She wasn't entirely sure where Northern pack territory began and her pack's territory ended. But she knew Northern pack territory was in this direction. Why did the mountains have to be in Northern pack territory?

Luna heard a leaf crack behind her. She whirled around. "Who's there?"

She heard more leaves snap. "Don't come any closer! I'm warning you!"

Finally, a light gray wolf appeared out of the bushes and blinked at her with lovely dark blue eyes. "Let me guess. You're armed?"

"Logan!" Luna breathed.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I…I…was looking for you," she admitted shyly.

She widened her eyes. "Where did those come from?" she looked at some fresh scars and scratches dappling Logan's flanks and shoulders.

He looked at them casually. "Oh those? I uh…I ran into some of your Northern friends. They don't take kindly to 'intruders' you know."

"Do you need something for them?"

"Nah. They hardly hurt. Just a little sting by now."

"They look awful," Luna whimpered. She padded over to him and licked his shoulder. Did his tail just wag?

"It hardly hurts," he repeated. "So, what did you need me for?"

"I just wanted see you again. You're a lot of fun to be around. I think we make good friends," Luna confessed with a flick of the ears.

"Thanks! Want to do some more hunting?"

"Sure!"

"Usual technique? You chase the prey towards me and I put it out of its misery?"

"Sounds harsh when you say it like that…but okay!"

"Great. Follow me."

Logan turned around and Luna followed him out of the forest. She had to squint as the rising sun poured light into her eyes. After her eyes had adapted to the bright light, she realized they were standing at the foot of a mountain.

_How's Logan going to climb if his shoulders are injured?_ Luna wondered.

To her surprise, he walked past the mountain. She bounded behind him.

"Where are we going?" she wondered aloud.

"Somewhere those Northerners won't find us," Logan answered.

He led her to a large clearing that was surrounded/hidden by four mountains. They had to leap over a pile of rocks to get in. Luna noticed Logan winced at his shoulder scars.

"Are you sure those don't need something?" Luna fretted.

"No they're fine," Logan shrugged.

"I doubt that shrug helped," Luna said, licking his shoulder again. "They look so bad! Were you with them all night long?"

"I…they were…I was, actually. I got caught last night. They gave me a full-night punishment. They let me go right when you found me."

Luna was silent for a moment. She felt bad about asking this so soon, but she had snuck out against her family's wishes to meet this wolf. That said 'good friends' right?

"Um…Logan? Would you…ever…lie to me?" she ventured.

To her shock, Logan actually hesitated. He seemed to be thinking. "Not unless it was necessary," he finally answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Like…and this is just an example! But, say, the Northern pack wanted me to join them. I would lie and say I don't want you to meet me anymore so that they wouldn't kidnap you and use you against me. If they thought I didn't care about you, they would find no use in taking you."

"Interesting example," Luna cocked her head. "But you're not the only one that would make me a good prisoner."

"What do you mean?"

"My parents are the Head-Alphas of the United pack. I'm an easier one to take since Omegas don't put up as good a fight."

"Huh."

"But…you _would_ care if I was taken, right? And, you _do_ want to meet again?"

"Of course! And absolutely."

Luna didn't know why but she blushed.

"So, about that hunting offer from earlier…" Logan hinted.

"Oh yeah! We should get to that."

Logan led Luna to a forest she didn't recognize. After they had hunted and ate, Luna and Logan played some games Luna and her Omega friends had invented. _One day I'll teach him log-sledding_ Luna promised herself. _But I'll save that for a special occasion…._

* * *

><p>Troy blinked awake. He saw his parents standing close together and talking quietly.<p>

"Looking for Luna?" he yawned.

Lilly looked at him over her shoulder. "How'd you guess?"

"She's at the main river getting a drink," Troy stretched. "She's perfectly safe."

Garth sighed. "Phew. Glad you told us. If I sent a search patrol for that, I'd feel pretty stupid."

Lilly smiled at her mate. "Nothing could make you look stupid."

Garth rubbed his nose against hers affectionately.

"Okay!" Troy got to his paws. "Enough of that! I don't exactly want little siblings. Luna's enough, thank you."

And with that, Troy trotted out of the den.

Lilly giggled. Her smile slowly faded as she watched her son race through the valley, greeting his Alpha friends and doing as many flips as he could.

"…what do you think it would've been like if I was an Alpha?" Lilly asked.

Garth had to think for a moment. "Well…I guess Luna would be an Alpha like she had wanted."

Lilly sighed and walked to the back of the den. "I still feel guilty about that. If only I'd been the Alpha I should've been, my daughter's dreams wouldn't have been crushed."

"Hey, it happened a long time ago," Garth argued as he followed her. "You just had a bad case of puppy pride. It's over with."

Lilly fell into a lying down position. She looked so gloomy as she remembered how she had made herself an Omega. "Why did I have to be so competitive with Kate? I snuck out one night to prove I was a better hunter when I wasn't ready and," Lilly paused to look at her left forepaw. "And I got my _stupid_ paw broken! It didn't fully heal until the day before Alpha School. I was so behind on my practices, I was forced to be an Omega. I was so stupid!"

"Hey! Don't beat yourself up," Garth protested. "I fell in love with Lilly the turtle-loving Omega. Not Lilly the should've-been-Alpha."

Lilly looked up at her mate. He nuzzled her head. "I'm glad I have a mate like you…" she said softly.

* * *

><p>Troy walked confidently through the valley. He saw tons of his Alpha friends. He even said hello to Delilah and Maggie.<p>

"Hey, girls," he called. "Have you seen my sister?"

"She was by the main river this morning," Delilah replied. "I last saw her trying to climb the cliff by the waterfall."

Troy rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Luna was such a curious little she-wolf!

"Thanks," he nodded to Candu's daughters. He padded towards the main river. _I guess I'll go join her. Luna wouldn't mind if she had an exploration partner. Besides, she needs someone to warn her where the Northern border is._

Troy finally reached the main river. It was gloomy and brown as usual.

"Troy?"

Troy jumped at the sudden sound . "Hey, Luna. How was your expedition?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she squeaked.

Troy was surprised. It was just a simple question. Why was she so jumpy? "I mean…did you see anything interesting up there?" Troy pointed with his nose to the top of the cliff.

"Oh!" Luna's fur lied flat. "Oh…um…just trees. And birds. That's it. No wolves or anything."

"Well, that's good. That leads to Northern territory you know."

"No I didn't!"

Troy jumped again. _What is up with her?_ he wondered.

"Okay. I figured you didn't. No offense that is!" he added, knowing how sensitive his sister was.

"Oh…okay. C'mon. We should head home now," Luna began to walk quickly towards their home.

"Wait a minute!" Troy stopped her after she had walked past him.

"What?" she sounded nervous and didn't fully look at him over her shoulder.

"Why do you _smell_ like you were with other wolves?" Troy asked suspiciously.

"Oh…um…I…I met a lone wolf," she continued walking.

"A lone wolf?"

"Yeah, but he told me to get lost and that was the end of that. Nothing to worry about, really."

Troy had to run to catch up with Luna. Why were Omegas so fast?

"You sure?" he asked.

"Totally! Er…don't you have Alpha duties or something? It's not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything! But, don't our Grandpas usually have something for Alphas who just got back from Alpha School to do?"

_Is it just me, or does she sound like she's hiding something? Nah! Luna wouldn't keep things from me. Would she?_ "Well, yeah. But since this year's class was twice as big as usual, so our Grandpas ran out of things for some of us to do."

"Huh." Luna seemed awfully tense. Troy was about to say something about it, but she finally relaxed and her eyes widened with excitement. "Hey! Since you have spare time, maybe we could do some log-sledding? You know, like the good ol' days?"

Troy wagged his tail. He was happy Luna was finally starting to sound normal. "Sure! Say, I think I overheard Hayden and Jake planning to do the same. What do you say to a race with them?"

Luna let out a playful growl. She did a play-bow. "They're on!"

Troy laughed. "You're so competitive."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Luna let out another play growl and nipped her brother's ear. He yelped with surprise. He tried to get back at her by pinning her down, but she only jumped out of the way. "If you want to tackle me, you have to catch me first!" Luna challenged.

She turned tail and raced through the forest. Troy barked and gave chase. He chased Luna through the thicker parts of the forest. Troy was panting.

"Whew. How are you Omegas so fast?" he called to her.

"It's because we're awesome!" Luna replied. She made a U- turn so sharp, she was able to swipe her tail over Troy's muzzle.

Troy slid to make the same turn, but was clumsier at it. By the time he had given chase in a straight line again, Luna was already making another sharp turn and running right past him. "See ya'!" she taunted.

"I don't think so!" Troy made another U-slide. He chased her all the way up a hill. Whenever Troy would get close enough to nip her tail, Luna would let out a panicked squeal and then giggle. Finally, she reached the top of a hill. She was exhausted. "Phew. The Omega is the winner!" she cheered.

Troy came up behind her panting. He put a paw on hers. "Caught ya,'" he panted. "Huh. Mountain climbing takes a lot out of ya' huh?"

_I wish I could tell you the real reason I'm so tired,_ Luna thought. She didn't want to keep things from Troy. But right now just wasn't the time to spring up her lone wolf friend on him.

"Hey!"

The siblings both turned their heads to see Hayden and Jake on another hill nearby. "Hey there!" Hayden repeated.

"Wanna do some log-sledding?" Jake offered.

"Sure!" Troy called back, making Luna's ears ring. "You think you're not too tired?" he asked his smaller sister.

"For log-sledding?" Luna was surprised he would ask such a thing. "Never!"

They raced each other to where their cousins were waiting. Each pair grabbed a log. Luna hopped in front of Jake. Troy settled himself behind Hayden. They decided to do an Alphas versus Omegas race. The next round would be males versus females. The final race would be brother and sister against brother and sister.

As Luna climbed in front of Jake guilt swept over her. She was keeping a secret from her brother! That was a crime in her world.

_I'll tell him_ Luna told herself. _Someday…._

* * *

><p>"<em>Woo hoo<em>!" Luna cried as her log went flying through the air.

The log landed roughly and continued to slide downhill. "Lean left, fifty degrees!" she called to her partner behind her. He obeyed.

"Are you sure this is safe?" he questioned.

"It's the safest game I know!" Luna assured. "That is until we hit a—tree!" she shrieked.

"What do we do?"

Luna thought frantically. "Um…lean to the right!" she ordered.

They both shifted their weight to their right sides and narrowly missed the tree. The left side of their log scraped the trunk and splinters flew. But the rest of the log continued to slide down.

Luna laughed. She loved the feeling of adrenaline that log-sledding brought her!

"Hole!" shouted a voice in her ear.

"Huh?" Luna saw it. A huge hole in the middle of the ground. She didn't have time to react before the front side of the log fell into the hole, flinging Luna and her friend through the air. He landed with his rump in the air and his tail nearly touching his nose. By the time his bottom half fell back to the ground. Luna landed on top of him, making them both yelp.

"Sorry Logan," she moaned.

Logan jerked his head upward to get her paw out of his eye. "Whoa. That was fun!" he jumped to his paws, making Luna fall over onto her back. "How about another round? This time, no holes or trees. I know this clearing—"

"Sorry," Luna interrupted as she rolled onto her paws and stood up, shaking dirt out of her white pelt. "It's going to be sunrise soon. I have to go."

"Oh," Logan's ears drooped with disappointment.

Luna felt bad about it. "But, we can use this log tomorrow! I'll come tonight to make it sooner."

"Okay," Logan shrugged. "But, try not to come too many times. So much sneaking around will stress you out."

It was a few weeks later. Luna had taught Logan log-sledding to celebrate their sixth meeting (which was a big deal, since it was halfway to ten). She still hadn't told anyone about her secret meetings with Logan in their little mountain clearing and the forest that Luna had learned was on the outskirts of Jasper.

"Thanks for the concern," Luna said.

"Want me to walk you to the waterfall?" Logan offered.

"What if the Northern wolves find you?"

"They haven't found you. I'm not that much different."

"No argument there," Luna agreed. The two had become inseparable besides the fact Luna had to leave every time. They were like twins. He felt like Troy to Luna_. But he's not. So does that mean we're…_Luna felt awkward to even think about it. _We're dating…?_

Luna shook her head. She realized she had been staring at Logan. He had begun walking towards the waterfall that would lead Luna home. He stopped to let Luna catch up. They began to walk side-by-side.

"So. What do you say to me keeping that log? I can drag it to this neat little hiding spot I know. Save it for tomorrow?" Logan suggested when they were halfway there.

"Good thinking!" Luna's eyes sparkled. "It's a really good log. Logs that reliable aren't that easy to find nowadays."

"If I had tried log-sledding before, I'd probably agree with you," Logan replied.

Luna giggled. Then she flattened her ears and sighed with sadness. She was at the waterfall.

"Why don't you join my pack? My grandfather is very generous. Well, one of them anyways," Luna said.

Logan took a deep breath. He thought hard for a long time. "No. I just can't. Personal reason," he shrugged.

Luna tried to hide her disappointment. "Oh," she muttered.

"I can still escort you as far as the river," Logan offered.

Luna didn't say anything. She simply jumped onto the closest ledge, then the one closest to that one, then the one closest to that one, and so on until she reached the bottom of the cliff. She turned to see Logan had followed her.

"What if someone sees you?" she shook her head, but couldn't help but smile.

"You said so yourself. You're the earliest riser. No one should be awake besides us. Or did you lie to me?" Logan pricked his ears.

"I am no liar!" Luna squeaked. She clamped her jaws shut. She kind of _was_. None of her packmates knew she secretly met with a lone wolf. She was a liar to them….

Logan's chuckling broke her out of her thoughts. "I love your squeaks!" he said. He licked her between the ears. "They're so cute."

Luna blushed and blinked rapidly. She let out a giddy giggle. She didn't know what came over her. But something inside made her rub her nose against Logan's. He didn't do anything about it. He only rubbed his nose against hers as well.

Luna's blood froze when she heard a growl come from the bushes. She whipped around and gasped. "Troy!"

**Characters from the movie aren't my original property! Next chapter awaits!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Today's chapter: How will Troy react, now that he knows Luna's secret? And will anyone in Logan's pack find out as well? Garth is originally a character of Lionsgate. **

Luna's brother emerged from the bushes, snarling. Luna tucked her tail between her legs. She was caught!

Logan came up to stand beside her and snarled at Troy.

"What do you think you're doing?" Troy spat.

"I—um—er—I mean—I was—" Luna stammered.

"Was what? Betraying your family?" Troy suggested bitterly.

"And just who do you think you are?" Logan demanded.

"Don't worry about him. It's just my brother," Luna told him softly.

"_Just_ your brother?" Troy barked. "So you don't even care about us anymore? Do you want to live with him now?"

"Do you?" Logan looked at Luna.

"No!" Luna squeaked to her brother. "I mean…I would if I could but I just…can't," she said to Logan.

He nodded.

Troy continued to growl.

"Logan…just go," Luna pleaded. She nudged Logan towards the cliff with her nose.

"Okay," he said. He shot a hostile glare at Troy and then looked at Luna with gentle eyes. "Meet ya' later?"

"Usual place," Luna agreed with a wag of her tail. She watched Logan as he climbed up the steep cliff before turning to face her brother who had walked up to stand with his nose near to hers.

"Who was that?" he demanded.

"Logan," Luna answered calmly. "He's my…friend."

"_What_ is he?"

"He's a wolf just like you! What did he look like, a blueberry?" Luna snapped.

"Of what pack?" Troy asked impatiently. "Certainly not either of ours."

"He…he's a…" Luna swallowed. She really didn't want to tell this to Troy this way! "A lone wolf. But he's completely harmless!" she added when her brother took a step back and looked at her like he'd never seen her before. "He's a very close friend of mine. He cares about me and he's gained my trust! And you know how hard that is to do."

Troy shook his head. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Well let me think…" Luna pretended to think. "Oh yeah," she said sarcastically. "This was our sixth meeting. He's a great wolf to be around, mind you! I even taught him log-sledding today!"

The bushes behind them rustled. Luna felt like dropping dead as her father appeared out of the shadows. How much of that had he heard?

"What is going on?" Garth exclaimed, shocked. "You two! This must be serious if you're yelling at each other. What happened? I heard a lot of angry shouts."

Luna flattened her ears and looked at her paws. No doubt Troy would tell. What would she do? How could she look any of her family members in the eye after Troy told them about what she had done?

The next few moments shocked Luna more than anything else in the world.

"It's my fault, dad," Troy said. "Luna was trying some more of her mountain climbing and I got a little freaked out when she tripped and fell. I guess you could say…there are better ways to say 'be careful.'"

Garth looked at his daughter. "You alright?"

"I…um…" Luna stuttered, wide-eyed.

"She's still a little dazed," Troy lied. "But I doubt the fall wasn't too bad. Nothing I can't handle. You should go check on mom. If she wakes up and none of us are there, I could only imagine how worried she's gonna be."

Garth nodded. "Good point. I should get going in that case. Be careful with your expeditions, Loony," he said to Luna.

"Oh! Er…sure thing," Luna forced a casual smile.

Garth chuckled with amusement and left them there.

Even though he was out of earshot, Luna still spoke in a whisper. "Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You didn't rat me out. Why?" Luna asked. She was beyond confused.

Troy thought for a moment. He sighed and looked at his paws. "I don't even know. I guess it was…you just seemed so happy around him." He looked her in the eyes. "You're really good friends aren't you?"

Luna nodded.

"I couldn't find it in my heart to break that up. You're my little sister after all."

"Only by a few seconds!" Luna protested. She was desperate to lighten the mood.

Troy did laugh. But it sounded a little forced. His conscience was obviously gnawing at him for lying to Garth.

"So…did you ever…ever get tempted to tell anyone? Even me?" he asked.

"Every day!" Luna answered without a second thought. "I just…didn't know how to spring something like this on you."

"I see…" Troy looked at the river. Then back at his sister. "Are you going back?"

Luna took a deep breath. She didn't want to lie anymore. Especially to her brother. "Yes. Tonight."

"When will you be coming back?"

"I don't know," Luna shrugged. "Sometime before mom and dad wake up. Probably around when the moon starts to go down."

Troy nodded. "Right," he exhaled. "If you're late I'll think of something to say."

Luna pricked her ears. "R…really?"

"Yeah. I can keep a secret. I'm going to support you. You're my sister aren't you?"

"Only if I don't have our genetic info mixed up," Luna joked.

Troy chuckled. "Yeah. So what do you say? Do we have a secret?" he stretched out a forepaw.

Luna looked at it. Then she placed hers on top of it. "It's our secret."

* * *

><p>Logan walked through the woods cautiously. He hoped Luna was okay. Her brother looked awful hostile. But judging from how Luna had talked about him, she'd be perfectly fine with him. It was Logan who felt glad he had left.<p>

_Will he tell her parents about us?_ Logan wondered. _Will she be forbidden to see me anymore? _Logan decided to go to their usual spot just in case.

He heard the bushes behind him begin to rustle. He halted and glared at the bushes with a snarl. "Come on out. No use hiding anymore," he said impatiently. "C'mon little fluffy bunny," he switched his tone to sweet after no one appeared. "Come out and be a nice little piece of dinner for Seth."

Finally, a wolf crawled out from the bushes, looking offended. She was cream-colored with a gold splotch over her right eye, gold paws, a gold tail-tip and a gold left ear. "Who're you calling fluffy bunny? I can handle being called dainty and petite, but a bunny?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "What do you want Cherry—I mean, Cheyenne."

"First of all, I wish for you to stop calling me Cherry," she began. "You know it bugs me since we've stopped dating!"

"Only 'cause you refuse to _let_ me forget it," Logan muttered.

"Second," Cheyenne went on as if he hadn't spoken. "I wanted to warn you: where've you been? You know how Seth gets angry when you hide in your little cave."

"I spent the night in my den just last night!" Logan argued.

"You got there when he was asleep and you left before he woke up," Cheyenne squeaked. "Some proof he's got now."

"And he calls himself the older brother…" Logan growled crossly. "That whiney puppy!"

Cheyenne shushed him. "Even the trees have ears," she whispered.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Why are you so paranoid? You were never like this when we were dating."

"That's because we weren't dating during Seth's reign. Now, he takes up every excuse to beat up his own packmates. He'd rip out your tongue if one of his little 'favorites' overheard you say something like that."

"Why do you even care so much?" Logan always felt bitter when he thought about his brother.

Cheyenne looked hurt. "We're friends…right?"

Logan flicked an ear. "Yeah…we are. We would be more than that if Seth hadn't taken you away."

"He didn't take my away!"

"Oh, so you offered to be his 'favorite girl?'" Logan felt sick quoting his cruel leader.

"Well…no. Okay so he did force me to be with him," Cheyenne admitted. "But it's not like he dragged me by the hind legs away from you!"

Cheyenne sighed. "Are you sure you're feeling alright about that? I know how loyal you tend to be…"

"I'm fine. I've definitely moved on—" Logan cut himself off. He was about to reveal his relationship with Luna!

But it was too late. Cheyenne pricked her ears and was staring at him. "Really? You found another girl already? Someone I know?"

"She's…er…I mean that—"

Cheyenne's eyes widened. "Are you trying to say it's my sister?"

"No! No way! N…not to be rude or anything. I just don't think about Selena like that."

Cheyenne sighed. "Phew. That's a relief. That would've been so awkward!"

Logan dipped his head and flattened his ears. "I've already faced the drama of being in love with one childhood friend."

Cheyenne looked at him sadly. "I don't even think he loves me as much as you did. He just wants you to be miserable. He's the paranoid one. He thinks you could overthrow him you know. He talks in his sleep," she put in with a shrug.

Logan flicked his ears and thought for a moment. He didn't know anything about being Head-Alpha. He didn't want such a huge responsibility. But if he _was_ leader, he could be with Luna…and that would unite all four packs!

The idea made Logan's eyes widen. "Do you think I _could_ overthrow him?" he asked Cheyenne excitedly.

She seemed surprised. "Um…with all due respect? No."

Logan randomly slapped himself.

Cheyenne jumped back with surprise. "What did you do that for?" she shrieked.

"I've gone mad," Logan mumbled as he sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws.

Cheyenne's eyes softened. She walked closer to him. "How? You're the most sane wolf I know these days. Besides my sister of course."

"I can't tell you 'how.' I just…got this ridiculous idea because of—something…."

Cheyenne looked offended. "Can't tell me? What do you mean you can't tell me? I'm your best friend!"

Logan shuffled his paws. He should tell her. He could trust her, right? He didn't want to keep this in anymore. Luna had told someone (technically).

"Well?" Cheyenne pressed.

"I'm in love with an Eastern/Western wolf!" Logan blurted.

Cheyenne's eyes became full moons. She swayed on her paws as if she was going to faint. She finally got a grip on herself by gasping.

"You _what_?"

"Please don't make me say it again," Logan whined.

Cheyenne scrambled backwards, tail tucked between her legs. Her eyes were wide and her ears were pressed so flat against her head, they looked like they would rip off any moment. "I don't know you, I don't know you, I don't know you, I don't know you!" she repeated over and over again.

"Calm down, it's not that big of a deal," her reaction shocked Logan.

"_Not that big a deal?_" she cried so loudly, Logan wanted to rip out her tongue for drawing attention to them from any onlookers.

"Shh," Logan shushed her, putting a paw on her shoulder and looked around for any sign of an audience.

"You're mad!" Cheyenne hissed. "If Seth knows he'll kill you! And her!"

"Then he won't find out," Logan replied calmly.

Cheyenne looked at him like he was insane. "I don't believe this…"

"Actually, you should. She's a really friendly wolf. They're not as bad as you think, you drama queen."

"I don't believe this," Cheyenne repeated.

"You should! And I can prove it to you…."

**Stay tuned!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I don't own Garth and Lilly. There's also a little dig at Katy Perry's song Teenage Dream. Don't own that…**

**Today's chapter is very exciting! Don't want to bore you here! Just read…**

* * *

><p>Troy was exhausted. It was sunset of the same day and his dad wouldn't take it easy on the Alpha duties.<p>

Troy walked into his family's cave to see Luna and Lilly lying down across from each other. Lilly was making Luna laugh by putting her fluffy tail over her eyes and blowing on it. Then she would smack it around with her nose.

They both stopped and greeted Troy with a smile.

"Hey," he greeted back tiredly. He collapsed down on the floor next to Luna. "So…tired…" he complained. "Dad and Grandpa Winston and Tony gave me _so_ many Alpha duties today. I'm ultimately bushed!"

Lilly giggled with amusement.

"That is not funny!" Troy barked. "I think they even worked me more than the others in my age group. Shouldn't their favorites receive _more_ breaks?"

Lilly sat up. "First of all, your father and grandparents do not show favoritism," she began. "Second, you're the heir to one of the four Head-Alphas. Your father wants you to be ready. Head-Alphas have a lot more to do than regular Alphas you know. And since he isn't behind you, is your father still doing stuff?"

Troy nodded.

"See? You don't have it worse. He's been doing things all day and _still_ has things to do."

Troy looked at his paws. "Yeah I guess so."

"Did you know your grandparents are about to retire? In fact, they should've retired a long time ago," Lilly informed both of her pups. "But the one last thing they want to do before they do is show your dad the ropes. Tomorrow is my turn."

"Did you say one of four heirs to be Head-Alpha?" Luna spoke up.

"Yes," Lilly turned to her. "And I know what you're thinking." She smiled at her daughter. "Yes, Luna. When me, Garth, your aunt, and your uncle retire, you and Jake will also be Head-Alphas."

"So…I _will_ be an Alpha one day?" Luna's lavender eyes widened.

Lilly nodded.

Luna's red tail wagged a mile a minute, making Lilly giggle.

"Well lucky for you, your sister is a playful Omega and your mother was a former one," Lilly said to Troy.

"We're here to cheer you up after such a tiring day," Luna said as if they'd rehearsed this.

"Mh-hmm. Alright, Luna. Just like I showed you," Lilly scooted backwards to give her daughter more room.

"Okay," Luna breathed. She then hopped onto her back and began to wave her legs all around. "What am I?" she asked her brother.

* * *

><p>Troy laughed as his sister told another clever joke. It was about half an hour later and Lilly noticed it was getting late. "Okay," she interrupted her pups' joking around. "It's getting about time for us to get some sleep. As for Garth, oh, I'm sure he'll be here any second."<p>

"Okay," Luna and Troy said at the same time. They both settled down next to each other with their heads on their paws. Lilly curled up across from them. Troy yawned, making Luna's head shoot up with her nose twitching. "Phew!" she put a paw over her nose. "I'm not sleeping next to you with breath like that!"

"Hey, can I help it if I've been panting all day?" Troy asked as Luna scooted a little bit away from him.

Lilly laughed before curling up again and covering her nose with her tail. When the rhythm of her breathing slowed to signal she was asleep, Luna whispered to her brother, "Hey! Do you think you can cover for me when dad gets here?"

Troy was falling asleep too. He blinked and groggily looked at her with droopy eyelids. "Huh? Oh. You're going?"

Luna elbowed him roughly to wake him up more. "Yes! Can you make up something for dad?"

"Yeah…yeah, sure," Troy mumbled. He put his head on his paws and fell asleep. Luna rolled her eyes. It was times like these that made her a little glad she wasn't picked to be an Alpha. She didn't want to be this lazy!

Luna got to her paws and padded out of the den and into the night. She yawned. She was feeling tired too. She shook it off. She needed to stay awake for Logan! Luna walked on casually. Usually, she would visit Logan in the very early morning. The night time was eerie. But she distracted herself by thinking of what him and her could do. However, the feeling that someone is watching is a sense hard to ignore…

* * *

><p>Troy felt a nose nudging him. He growled and curled up into a ball. <em>Five minutes!<em> Troy wailed in his head. _Give me five minutes of sleep! _It only few minutes later. Hardly enough time to receive a weird, yet entertaining dream!

"Troy, wake up!" Garth's voice echoed in Troy's sleepy ears as the Alpha shook his son.

Finally, Troy blinked awake and stared at his father groggily.

"Where's Luna?" Garth asked. "Still climbing the cliff?"

Troy nodded.

Garth sighed. "That's the seventh time in two weeks! What does she do up there?"

"She likes to explore the forest up there. Since hardly anyone else does," Troy yawned.

Garth twitched an ear. "Hmm," he thought about something. "Maybe you should go with her, Troy."

Troy's head rose. "What?"

"She doesn't know where the border is. It's a miracle she hasn't crossed it by now," Garth replied.

Troy put his head back on his paws. "Maybe she does know. No one gets _that_ lucky," he pointed out.

Lilly woke up too. "I think your father's right," she said. "I doubt Luna does know. You don't want her to get hurt by Northerners and it be your fault from simply being lazy, do you?"

Troy mumbled gibberish to himself.

"Troy…" Garth warned. "Do you honestly want to disobey your future Head-Alphas?"

Troy growled with annoyance, but got to his paws. "Okay, okay. I'll assist her on her exploration," he promised before whisking out of the cave with a flick of his tail.

Lilly gave a nod of approval. "That's my boy."

"_Our_ boy," Garth corrected as he settled down beside his mate. They put their heads down close together and tried to go to sleep. But something was nagging Lilly in the back of her head. She raised it, her left ear twitching.

"Garth? Do you find it odd that Luna finds that forest so interesting?" she wondered aloud.

"Hmm?" Garth mumbled. He was as tired as his son. "What do you mean?"

"Well…haven't you noticed how she's there _all_ the time? It's almost as if she's got a whole other pack up there! Doesn't that seem the least bit suspicious to you?"

Garth tried to think about that. But he was too sleepy. "Should it?"

Lilly nipped his ear.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Luna, wait up!"<p>

Luna turned to see Troy running towards her.

"Wha…what are you doing here?" she asked.

Troy came up to her panting, "Phew. I told mom and dad you were exploring the forest above the cliff. They got worried and wanted me to come with you."

"Oh. Well…" Luna tried to think of something for Troy to do while she was with Logan. "I'm not sure what's there for you to do at this hour. Maybe you could sleep in his cave while we're playing."

"Actually, I did kind of want to join you," Troy replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I want to see what makes him so special that you would go through so much trouble to see him. And what you guys do. Do you think he'd mind?"

"Probably not. But if you get bored, don't complain to me!"

"When you're around, nothing gets boring."

* * *

><p>Troy followed Luna and Logan to their usual place. Logan had acted hostile to Troy at first, but Luna explained how he was willing to keep their relationship a secret, and Logan loosened up. Luna hopped over the pile of rocks guarding their meeting space. Troy looked at it, unable to believe she could hop over it so easily. All of the pair's mountain climbing had caused more rocks to fall on top, so it stretched over Troy's head.<p>

"Okay…I can do this," Troy braced himself by crouching down and wriggling his haunches. He leaped for the top. Instead, his forepaws grabbed the loose rocks on the top layer and he scrambled to climb over, but only let small rocks shower his belly. He slipped and fell. He managed to twist around in mid-air, landing on top of something furry that let out a squeak as he crashed on top of it.

Troy shook his head and looked down. His nose was touching the light pink one of a cream female with a gold-tan splotch over one eye and one ear. Her eyes were a beautiful light blue. They blinked with surprise at him and then turned hostile.

"Oof! Get off of me!" she squealed.

Troy finally came to his senses. "Oh! Oh, sorry." He jumped off of her. The she-wolf rolled onto her belly and stood up, shaking tiny rocks out of her fur.

"Whew," she looked at Troy. "You are a heavy wolf, you know that?"

Troy flattened his ears. "Sorry about that."

"I'm only kidding," the female flicked her tail. She suddenly narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Who are you anyways?"

"I'm Troy. What about you?"

She hesitated. Then her gaze softened. "I'm Cheyenne."

Troy realized he was staring at her. He didn't know what to say to such a pretty female! "Heheh. Um…hi."

She blinked. She didn't seem to know what to say either. "Er…hi."

* * *

><p>"Well, now I know why you're called Luna. The moonlight looks amazing on your white fur," Logan commented.<p>

Luna blushed. "Oh! Thanks…"

She looked around. "Where is Troy?"

"Not sure," Logan looked around too. "I don't see my guest either."

"Maybe they're mingling," Luna suggested.

"Hmph. It's about time Cheyenne met some new people," Logan chuckled.

"Cheyenne? How do you know her?" Luna tried to fight a feeling of jealousy at the bottom of her stomach.

Logan was silent for a moment. "Old friend," he finally answered. "From my old pack."

"Uh-huh…"

"Enough about that!" Logan said when Luna opened her jaws to something else. "Let's do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Logan looked at the moon that was shining from between two of the mountains. "It's almost full," he noticed. "Only a tiny claw scratch is missing."

"Yeah. I noticed that too," Luna tried to distract herself from nearly acting jealous.

"Your pack have any Moonlight Howls coming up?"

"Probably."

"Have you ever gone to one? With…anyone?" Why were Logan's claws digging at the ground? He did that when he was nervous.

"Well…no," talking about the romantic parties made Luna feel awkward. Especially around her boy—male friend. "I was too young when the last one happened."

Logan began to say something, then interrupted himself.

"It's a shame you can't come to ours," Luna said. "But only wolves from our Eastern or Western pack can come."

"Well…you know…" Logan started to shuffle his paws, accidentally scratching himself with his claws. "the Northern Pack's dens are on the other side of the territory…we could always…have our own…"

Luna pricked her ears, shocked. "I…I'd like that."

Logan smiled and gestured with his head for Luna to follow him. They both walked up to a mountain. There was a spiral trail crawling around it, leading to the top. Luna followed Logan up it.

"I like this mountain," Logan said as they reached the top. "Its top is nice and smooth and gives the most beautiful view of the moon."

Luna arrived at the top next to him. She realized he was right. The moon was shining right in front of her. When she looked around, she saw the tips of the other mountains and nearly all of the territories. She tried to guess which little brown dot was her family's den.

"Wow…" she breathed in awe.

She turned to face Logan. The few stars that had chosen to come out tonight were shining in Luna's eyes, making them beautiful, sparkly lavender ones. "Wow…" Logan echoed. Luna's eyes were so beautiful… He'd rather stare at them than any waterfall or sunset. They were gentle and somehow comforting.

"Wow what?" Luna broke Logan out of his trance.

"Nothing," he finally breathed. "Nothing…except your eyes. They deserve more 'wows' than any other attraction in Jasper Park."

Luna giggled nervously.

"Er…c'mon. We should start howling now," Logan said. He walked to the edge of the mountain-top and sat down, the moonlight outlining his light gray fur.

"You know? I've never howled with anyone before," Luna informed him as she walked over to sit next to him.

"It's easy! It's nothing but singing. Except it comes from right here," Logan put a forepaw to Luna's heart. Luna grinned. This felt familiar to her…

"I'll go first. You can join in," Logan went on. "And trust me, you'll know when to do so."

Luna looked into eyes. "I do trust you…"

Logan pulled his paw away from awkwardly. "Oh…er. Ahem. Okay. So…no regrets from here?"

Luna was taken over by romantic-Luna again and rubbed her head under Logan's chin. "Just love."

* * *

><p>Troy began to hear howling. He pricked his ears and looked over his shoulder. Then he heard the most beautiful female howl intertwine with the first one.<p>

Cheyenne heard it too. "What lovely howls," she commented. She and Troy had been walking through the forest of mountains. They were talking and each was starting to get really personal when the howling started. "Anyone you know?"

Troy listened carefully. "Hmm. The female sounds like my mother…must be my parents," he decided with a shrug. "Do your parents ever howl together? Without Moonlight Howls?"

Cheyenne flattened her ears and looked away. "My parents are…dead," she whimpered.

"Oh…" Troy suddenly felt bad for asking. "I'm sorry. Was it a stampede? That's how many wolves in my pack went."

"No…it was poachers," Cheyenne replied gloomily. She shook her head. "I'm sorry! I try not to seem so depressed. That doesn't exactly help gain friends."

"But it proves who _is_ your friend," Troy pointed out.

Cheyenne looked at him. She smiled. "Are you one of those cheerful Omegas?" she asked.

"No. Just a boring Alpha."

"You're not boring!" Cheyenne protested. "You've made me laugh all night. And with things so down in my pack recently, I've needed someone like you to come along…"

"Thanks," Troy chuckled. He suddenly tensed. "Wait…your pack?"

"Yes. The Northern and Southern packs united. Didn't you know that? Where did you think I was from?"

"Logan's been telling my sister he was a lone wolf."

"Lone wolf?" Cheyenne was confused. "Why? He's a Northern/Southern wolf."

"What?" Troy's eyes widened.

"Yes. In fact, he's the brother to Seth, the temporary leader."

"He—she—they're—huh—what?"

"It's true!"

"He lied to her…" Troy found this difficult to take in. "Mom and dad were right! You can't trust anyone outside our pack!"

Now Cheyenne was upset again. "You don't trust me? So the last few moments between us didn't mean anything to you…?"

"No! No, I enjoyed it. You're really sweet and kind and—are you sure you're a Northerner?"

"Yes! We were very peaceful until our stupid Head-Alpha had to die and confess he had already united our pack with that mean and stupider one…" she growled bitterly.

"Look, I really enjoyed being with you…" Troy admitted. He even nuzzled her for good measure. "But…I need to tell my sister something. She needs to hear the truth."

Cheyenne looked at him. "Okay. I get it. Go on…"

Troy smiled and licked her pink nose. He whipped around and searched for his sister among the maze of mountains. Cheyenne put a paw to her nose and grinned.

* * *

><p>"Luna! Luna!" Troy called. He didn't see her and he was starting to get lost.<p>

Finally, he came across a mountain and saw the familiar form of his sister climbing down a mountain.

"Luna! There you are!" Troy skidded to a halt in front of her. "I need to tell you something—"

"I know," she held up a paw.

"Y—you do?"

"Yes. It's getting early," Luna clearly didn't. "I didn't mean to be that long, but…the time just got away…"

"What? Oh! Never mind that—"

Luna wasn't paying attention. She had turned her back to him and was saying good-bye to Logan. "You're howling is very beautiful," she said to him.

"It's nothing compared to your eyes with the stars hit them," Logan said dreamily.

They rubbed noses and Luna began to walk in the direction of her own territory. Troy was confused, but followed her. When they reached the top of the cliff, Troy suddenly gasped.

"You howled with him!"

Luna froze. "Yes…didn't you hear us?" she turned to face him.

"I thought it was mom and dad!"

"You think I sound like mom…?" Luna smiled as if he had complimented her.

"You howled with a Northern wolf!"

"He isn't Northern!" Luna argued, rolling her eyes. "He's a very trustworthy lone wolf."

"He lied to you," Troy protested. He knew this would break her heart, or knowing Luna, she wouldn't believe him and never speak to him again. "He's really a Northerner. And not just that, but he's even one of the pups that united the two packs. His brother is the reason our pack is so tense!"

Troy waited. He waited for Luna to call him a liar and deny it or overreact or something.

She only calmly stared at him. As if she hadn't seen him before. She then started to back away. "Logan wouldn't lie to me. I can't say the same for you—"

"Are you serious?" Troy snapped. "You don't believe me but you believe that…traitor?"

"How did you even find out about this?" Luna demanded. "Or did you just make it up because you were jealous?"

"His friend, Cheyenne! Remember her? I know you know about her."

"She's from his _old_ pack."

"You mean the same one he's in right now?"

"He isn't in a pack! It was wiped out in a wildfire! I can't believe you would try to break us up like this! Who do you think you are? Dad?"

"Do you remember any wildfires in Jasper Park? Huh? Did anyone ever talk about it or mention the death of their loved ones? Have you seen any places in Jasper that looked like they were burned in a fire?"

Luna didn't respond to that. She even started to think about that. She then shook it out of her head and turned her back on Troy. She began to leap down each ledge until she was at the bottom of the cliff. Troy watched her, waiting for her to say something.

"You're just jealous. Jealous that I've found someone who makes me happy, besides you. I don't belong to you!"

Troy leaped off the cliff, curling in a ball just like he'd seen Aunt Kate do. He landed on his feet in front of Luna. "Why won't you believe me? You've just met him. We're littermates. Why does his word matter more than mine?"

"Because I love him!" Luna snapped her jaws shut. Why did she just say that? She hadn't even admitted it to herself. But she had just howled with him. That meant something, right? She believed him over her brother…right?

"So you don't love me? Your brother?" Troy narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know what that means anymore," Luna retorted coldly. She pushed past him and stormed back home, despite his growl.

Luna couldn't help but start to let a few tears fall. She didn't know what to believe anymore. And when you don't know who to believe, who could you trust? She couldn't tell her parents…her friends would just go and tell their parents…she couldn't tell her grandparents…she couldn't tell her aunt nor uncle…she didn't even trust telling Uncle Humphrey's friends! There was only one wolf she knew she could ask. But could she guarantee Logan would tell the truth?

* * *

><p>Cheyenne walked confidently through the Northern pack's forest. She couldn't stop thinking about Troy. She carried a smile on her snout at the thought of the big…brawny…<em>handsome<em> male. Cheyenne suddenly bumped into something. She looked up and saw one of Seth's biggest and loyalist followers. Hawk.

"Hello, Cherry. What a lovely smile you have. Thinking about Seth?" he asked.

Cheyenne didn't answer.

"Or is it your new boyfriend, you two-timer?"

Cheyenne's blood froze. Her heart momentarily stopped. Could he mean…?

"Who were those wolves?"

"What…I don't know what you mean. What wolves?" Cheyenne tried to walk around him. The bigger wolf only shoved her, making her face him again.

"The red and white ones. Not from the Northern or Southern for sure…" he narrowed his eyes.

"I wasn't with any white or red wolf," Cheyenne retorted. She started to walk away, only to have claws run down her muzzle, thrusting her onto the ground. She yelped with pain. Hawk bit down into her ears hard. Cheyenne yelped. "Stop it! Stop!" she begged.

Hawk roughly released her. She whimpered. "Don't lie to me," Hawk snarled in her face. "I saw you in the mountain forest on today's patrols. Who were those wolves?" he demanded, putting his claws on the back of her neck. He was ready to hurt her. If Seth knew she was carrying a secret, he wouldn't care if she got killed.

Cheyenne sat up and tried to force herself to tell the truth. But before she could, Hawk only slapped her, raking his claws across her cheek. "If there's a secret in this pack, I think Seth would want to hear about it…" Hawk sneered.

Tears began to fall down Cheyenne's bleeding cheek.

**What will Seth do when he finds out about our little secret? Will Lilly and Garth ever find out as well? Will Cheyenne survive the night? Are Luna and Troy in danger? Read the next chapter to see!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Don't own Garth, Lilly, or Candu. Today, things get bad!**

**For any Reba fans reading, there's a small tease at the show. Also, when you reach the third horizontal ruler, I recommend a background Reba song like _You Lie_ or _Because of You_ or _Forever Love_…(wink, wink)**

* * *

><p>Logan climbed up the ledges and rocks that led to his favorite cave. He had gone to his brother's cave tonight for some reason. They got into a fight and then Hawk and Cheyenne came in, so Logan left. He wanted to spend the night by himself in his own cave.<p>

Logan put his paws on the last two rocks and hauled himself up. He wagged his tail, happy to be back somewhere away from Seth and his little kiss-ups.

Logan walked in, searching for the pile of feathers he called a nest in the dark light. He pawed around, since his eyes hadn't adapted yet. He felt something soft but it wasn't feathers. It was fur…

"Honey, I'm home."

The pile of fur snapped to life and sprang at Logan, pinning him down. He found himself looking into the blue eyes of his brother. His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and he recognized his brother's light grey pelt with its light brown snout, chest, and socks. As usual, he wore a snarl too.

"What took ya' so long? Your pet mole was waiting," Seth growled, smirking. He pointed with his nose to Cheyenne who was trapped underneath Max. Her fur was stained with tears and she was bleeding from wounds that dappled her entire body. Some other wolves were snarling at her and Logan. Three stepped out of the shadows to block the exit.

"What are you talking about?" Logan hissed. "Get off of me! And let her go!"

"We know your secret," Seth whispered in Logan's ear. "Your precious little Cherry sold you out."

Logan looked at Cheyenne. "Is that true…?"

Cheyenne whimpered. She struggled to escape Max's grasp, but was unsuccessful. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "They were about to kill me…"

Logan gagged as he felt claws sink into his throat.

"You've betrayed me, brother," Seth growled. "But I think I can figure out how to use this to my own advantage…"

"If you lay one claw on Luna—!" Logan's threat was cut off as Seth sank his claws deeper into his neck.

"I must say…" Seth went on. "I love your choice in girlfriends. Although this one won't be shown as much mercy as my current one."

"You already have Cheyenne! Luna isn't yours for the taking!" Logan growled back.

"Don't defy me, brother," Seth retorted. "I need you to play a part in my newest plot. And if you disobey…well…we're gonna have a problem."

Logan coughed and began to see stars.

Finally Seth snickered and eased his grip. Logan suddenly thrust his hind legs under the brown belly and threw his brother off. Seth flew off, and hit his head on the hard rock of the low roof. Logan scrambled to his paws and ran off. He jumped over the three wolves guarding the exit and used an Alpha flip to land safely at the bottom of the mountain.

"You'll have to kill me if you want to get to Luna!" he shouted before running away again. Only he knew this mountain forest like the back of his paw. He ran up the spiral trail of the mountain he and Luna had howled on top of. He had hoped to just hide up there, but when he saw Seth's followers running up the trail, Logan felt desperate. He began to howl a distress howl, hoping that someone would care enough to come and help. He instinctively called for one wolf in particular. "Lu—!"

Logan yelped as his howl was cut off. A jet black wolf had his teeth sunk deep into one of Logan's hind legs and was dragging him down the trail. Logan used his other leg to scratch Jake's nose, an extremely sensitive part. Justin yelped with pain, releasing Logan. He hopped off of the ledge and onto the ledge of nearest mountain.

Logan jumped from the different ledges until he was at the bottom of the other side. He began to run. He could feel other wolves' breaths hot on his tail, but didn't dare look back. He began to swerve and weave through the various passageways between each mountain until there weren't any breaths on his back anymore.

Logan began to slow, only to collide with another wolf. He recognized the wolf when it squeaked as they crashed.

"Cheyenne!"

She scrambled to her paws, still crying. "Logan! I am so sorry! I didn't want to…I swore to secrecy but…"

"Just get out of here," Logan sounded more concerned than angry. "Before they hurt you again. Just go around that mountain," Logan pointed to one behind her, "And the one in front of your nose should lead to my cave. Go! Hurry!"

Cheyenne was surprised to be forgiven, but quickly obeyed. Logan fled in the opposite direction. He ran as fast as he could. But so much mountain climbing could really scrape and cut your paw pads.

Logan ran but mistook one path for another. He accidentally ran right into a dead end. He whirled around to see pretty much all of Seth's followers. They were snarling and the moonlight lit up their narrowed eyes in a creepy way.

Logan whipped around again and tried to climb up the cliff face. He felt claws rake down his spine, making him yelp and fall. He landed with a huff as the air was momentarily knocked out of him. Logan scrambled to his paws only to be knocked back down with a blow to the head.

Hawk stood on top of Logan, forcing his head onto his paws and looking at Seth. Seth flicked his ears and Hawk stepped off of Logan reluctantly.

Seth clawed Logan's face and bit down into his throat. Logan yelped and gagged and choked but didn't struggle. He heard a gasp from the back of the crowd and guessed they had caught Cheyenne and were forcing her to watch her childhood friend be tormented.

Seth literally dropped Logan. "Well it's not fun if you don't fight back," he complained.

"I'll let you kill me," Logan spat. "For Luna!"

"Very loyal, this one…" Seth narrowed his eyes. "Take him back to my place," he ordered Hawk. "It's about time we told him our plan…"

Hawk sank his teeth unnecessarily deep into both of Logan's hind legs and dragged him back to Seth's cave. The other wolves began to follow, a miserable Cheyenne in the center. Max lagged behind with his leader.

"Sir? Just out of curiosity, what is the plan?" the second-in-command asked.

"Simple. I'm going to take over all of the packs. All I have to do is force Hayden or Loony to be my mate. Most likely Loony. She has the blood of an Eastern and Western wolf. And it'll taunt my brother more. And I must kill her parents. All I'm missing is bait. That's where Logan comes in…"

"Good plan…" Max nodded. Although the idea of Seth ruling all the packs didn't sound like such a good idea to him. He didn't like the young, blood-thirsty ruler. But he pretended to be his friend for his own life's sake. "You're sure to win."

Seth grinned evilly. "I always win…"

* * *

><p>The next morning, Luna slept in. She didn't speak to her mother when she woke up. When Garth and Troy were heading out to carry out Alpha duties and said their good-byes, Luna mumbled a 'bye' to her dad, but gave her brother the cold shoulder. Troy hadn't even said anything to her or even look at her. Lilly was getting worried. Why weren't her pups speaking to each other? What could've possibly made them fight?<p>

Lilly had gone out for her Head-Alpha training with her parents. Luna slept while her mother was gone. She was awoken by some of her friends who wanted to play.

"Not now, guys," Luna had muttered. "I feel sick today."

"What with?" one of them had asked.

"Heart-ache," Luna said to herself. "I mean…belly ache. Could be the flu."

Her friends quickly walked out after that. Luna fell asleep again.

Later, her mother came in. Lilly had tried to have a casual conversation with Luna, but the young she-wolf only muttered her half of the conversation. After a while, Luna got tired of her mother pestering her, and walked out. She walked to the main river. She stared at the cliff she always climbed when she went to see Logan. But she didn't want to go to him right now. So she stared at her reflection in the river, thinking.

Luna flicked her ears as she heard someone approaching. It was one of her Omega friends. It was Shakey and Janice's son, Lucas. He was a brownish-gray with black ears and black socks. Seeing him always reminded Luna of his mother's friend, Reba, who was married to Mooch, which Luna thought was an odd couple when it came to eating habits. Salty had married a cream-colored wolf whose name Luna couldn't remember, but she knew her as the wolf Hayden and Kate went to when their fur got knots.

"Hey, Luke," Luna greeted half-heartedly.

"Hi, Luna!" he greeted back, cheerfully. He was always so happy around her. He sat down next to Luna, tail wrapped around his paws. "Did you hear the news? The moonlight howl's been rescheduled to tonight!"

"Why was it rescheduled?"

Luke shrugged. "Beats me. But isn't it great? I don't think I could've waited another night."

"I don't think I'll be going," Luna said gloomily.

"Why not? Is it the flu? Jake told me you thought you had it. Are you sure you should be out here with it?"

"Yeah. Maybe I just needed the fresh air. I think it's starting to clear up," Luna lied.

"Oh! Oh, great. So maybe you _can_ go."

"I don't want to. There's no one I really want to go with."

Luke's tail twitched. "Oh…well, you shouldn't miss it! You'll just regret it later. Not that I would know! I heard about it from my mom. Would you consider going…with me? As—as friends?"

Luna twitched her ears. Luke obviously liked her. A _lot_. But…she loved Logan. She didn't want to go to the Moonlight Howl without him. She wanted to howl with him in their own place…their own world.

"You'd really like that, wouldn't you?" Luna asked him.

Luke nodded.

Luna sighed. "I'll think about it," she promised. "Meet me at the place where my dad was supposed to howl with my Aunt. You can ask Aunt Kate where that was."

Luke stood up, his tail wagging a mile a minute. "Great! Great, I'll see ya' there?"

"If I don't change my mind—"

"Oh! This is great!" Luke interrupted as if she hadn't spoken. "If your stomach clears up, I'm going log-sledding with Reba and Mooch's pups, Henry and Brock. You're welcome to join us."

"I can't guarantee I'll—"

"Okay!" Luke was already running towards Rabbit Mountain. "I'll see ya' at the Moonlight Howl!" he called before running off. "Jake! You'll never guess who just agreed to go with me…"

Luke's voice faded away as he ran farther away. Luna sighed and her ears drooped. Luke was a sweet wolf, but he could be a little rude when he got excited.

Luna saw her depressing reflection again. She felt bad being so cold to her family. Why couldn't Troy understand how she felt? She wanted to believe him, but…but she trusted Logan. He made her feel comfortable and safe. Fate was cruel. Why did she have to fall in love with someone her family wouldn't approve of?

* * *

><p>Troy felt numb. He had been assigned to help catch lunch, but his mind was whirling around in so many places. He had to bring down this caribou, but his sister was upset with him and he was upset with her. He had to begin his extra training to be Head-Alpha, but he needed to find a date to the Moonlight Howl. He needed to ask why it had been rescheduled to the curiosity would stop gnawing at him. He needed to think of who would make a decent date, but he couldn't stop thinking of how much he wanted to take that Northerner, Cheyenne. She was so beautiful and kind and gentle and thoughtful and considerate and friendly and her eyes were like…whoa.<p>

His hunting partner, Delilah noticed Troy was distracted. "Troy? Should we send you home?" she asked, concerned. "You look so tired."

Troy shook his head, but didn't speak. He still felt numb.

Troy lunged for the caribou. He snapped at its heels and herded it to where his father and Candu were waiting in the taller grass. They leapt out to pounce on the large creature, but Troy had mistakenly sent the caribou running in the opposite direction. The two Alphas caught nothing and landed with an "Oof!" on dirt.

The caribou ran towards the safety of its herd.

Candu stomped his foot in frustration. "Troy! What were you thinking? That was a perfectly good meal—"

"Candu, back off!" Garth growled. He walked up to his son. He had noticed the young Alpha had been acting lethargic all day. "Troy, are you feeling alright? You look really tired and haven't been focused on your duties today. Do you feel sick?"

"Actually, dad, I do have the worst headache ever," Troy admitted.

"Would you like to see Eve?"

"No thanks," Troy shook his head groggily. "Can I just go back to the den?"

Garth nodded. "Sure. I'll send your mother to check on you later. Or Luna."

Luna was the last wolf who'd help Troy's headache right now. But he didn't say anything. He just muttered a small 'thanks' and walked back to their cave, hanging his head.

"It's not my fault Luna's upset," he mumbled to himself. "She practically betrayed our family, falling for a North wolf or…South wolf or lone—oh! Whatever he was! Maybe I should just tell mom and dad. They'll believe me…"

* * *

><p>Luna trotted through the forest. Visiting Logan at sunset was early for her, but she didn't want to miss the Moonlight Howl. Maybe she'd meet someone else there who'd replace Logan. Everything would work out better if she met someone else. But she loved Logan! How could she just find a replacement?<p>

Luna shook her head. This was all giving her a headache. She just wanted to see Logan one more time. It could be the last if what Troy said was true.

Luna thought she had gone the wrong way. She saw the clearing that was bordered by the four mountains, but there was no pile of rocks guarding it. They had been knocked down and were scattered across the floor.

"Luna?"

Luna whipped around, her fur standing on end. Then she recognized the wolf she was here to see. "Logan," she exhaled. "What happened to the pile of rocks that was here?"

Logan stared at them as if he was confused. He seemed distracted and a little wounded. Luna noticed he was favoring one of his hind paws. "Huh? Oh, that? I'll explain later," he said, walking past her.

"Huh?" Luna followed him with her eyes.

"Luna, get out of here," Logan hissed under his breath. Luna noticed he was trying to make his mouth move as little as possible. His eyes were darting around, as if he knew someone was watching them.

"Wha…why?" Luna was actually starting to feel a little scared.

"Just go! And don't return," Logan growled.

"What…no! I want to stay with you!" Luna argued.

"Luna, I'm saying this for your sake, don't stay here! Go home. Go to your Moonlight Howl. Forget about me!"

"Forget about…no! I can't forget about you! I love you!"

Logan's eyes widened. "Y…you do…?"

Luna thought it was obvious by now. "Yes. Don't you love me too?" she wondered, walking up to him and giving him a wolf hug (her neck pressed against his). She realized he was tense and bleeding.

"Logan…where did those come from…?" she pulled away, looking him in the eyes. He only looked back at her. She was shocked. She saw a hurt, and sad, and old wolf. Not the young, fun-loving, and witty wolf she had fallen in love with.

"Luna…I do love you."

"Did you lie to me?" Luna blurted. "About…being a lone wolf…?"

Logan flattened his ears and tried to avoid her gaze. Then he looked her hard in the eyes. "Yes. I'm the son of the Southern female and the former Northern Head-Alpha."

Luna's blood turned to ice. She backed away from Logan. Her ears were pressed tight against her head and her tail was tucked between her legs. She had gotten mad at her brother…betrayed her parents…lied to her pack…she had been willing to give up _anything_ for this wolf that had been lying to her this whole time! She was in love with a liar.

"You lied…it doesn't matter," Luna declared, shaking her head. "We're in love. Isn't that enough?" Let's face it. She was a sensitive drama queen. She was tired of getting so upset over small things. She had done so much just to see this one wolf. It wasn't going to end now!

"You should've believed your brother," Logan murmured. "I heard the whole thing from behind a tree…I'm sorry I made you get mad at him like that."

"It's not your fault. I can be dramatic sometimes…" Luna confessed, rolling her eyes at herself.

Luna felt a rock fall on her ear. She flicked it and looked up. She thought she saw a flash of brown and gray from one of the mountains. "What was that?" she wondered aloud, hoping Logan had seen it too.

"It's a sign. That you should run!" Logan tried to warn her. But wolves suddenly charged out from behind him and behind Luna and drowned her in a wave of their massive bodies. Luna squealed and yelped as they scratched and bit her and clawed her up.

"Stop it!" Logan snarled. He leaped at them but Hawk only knocked him in the head with his claws, sending Logan flying. The gray wolf hit his head on a sharp rock and was knocked out.

"Enough!"

The wolves all paused. Seth leaped down from his perch on a ledge on the mountain Luna had been looking at. He stood in front of his wolves and flicked his ears as a signal for them to step off of Luna. They parted reluctantly to reveal a battered and scarred Luna. She was crouched down low, whimpering.

"What do you want?" she demanded. She didn't know it was the leader of the united Southern/Northern pack she was snarling at.

"Simple. I want your parents' power of ruling. And I enjoy a good blood bath to get it. Starting with yours—"

"_Over my dead body!_"

A red and white form launched itself through the air and pinned down the blood-thirsty leader. It snarled and sank its teeth into Seth's throat.

"Troy!" Luna gasped.

Max charged from the line of Seth's followers and sank his teeth into Troy's scruff, yanking him off of Seth. The gray and brown wolf coughed and gasped for air before glaring angrily at Troy.

"Stupid…worthless…_dead_, animal!" Seth roared. "Kill him!" he ordered. Seth's followers all lunged for Troy.

"Nooo!" Luna wailed. She stepped in their way. Their teeth sank into her shoulders and belly and legs and tail and face. Their claws caught her ears and shredded them.

"Luna!" Troy gasped. He snarled and leaped for the wolves. Logan, who had finally come to, quickly grasped the situation. Furious, he leapt at his brother and bit into his foreleg and thrust it over the wolf's head, breaking it.

At Seth's pained yelp, half of the enemy wolves left Luna and began to tear into Logan. He fought back ferociously, but he was gravely outnumbered.

"Leave them alone!" screeched a new voice. Cheyenne leaped in from no where in particular and ripped Hawk off of Troy. She snarled at the other wolves who tried to get in too close. "Go! Go to your home," she commanded Troy over her shoulder.

"What? No! I'm not leaving Luna, or you!" Troy protested.

"You have to!" Cheyenne cried. Hawk regained his paws and pounced on her from behind. Even though she was an Alpha, Cheyenne couldn't fight too well. She yelped and struggled and clawed at Hawk's belly with her hind-legs. But the dark brown wolf was not impressed, and sank his teeth deep into her neck.

"Cheyenne!" Troy panicked as her eyes began to close. He wrapped his forepaws around Hawk's neck and thrust him off. Cheyenne stayed where she was, unmoving. He pinned the wolf down, clawing at his belly with little mercy. Scarlet pools sprouted from the sensitive skin and flowed onto Troy's claws. Hawk yelped with pain. His younger brother, Nick sprang out from attacking Luna, and he bit into his former friend's throat.

Fury blocked out the pain momentarily, but soon it became unbearable as the jaws neared Troy's vein of life. He clawed blindly and struck the white muzzle. Nick yelped, releasing Troy. Troy regained his composure and raised a paw, ready for a brutal strike.

But Hawk head-butted Troy's belly, knocking him to the ground on his side—belly exposed. Hawk pinned him down again. He put a paw on Troy's throat and slowly raked his claws down his stomach. He sank his teeth into Troy's ears and bit nearly completely through. He pressed his forepaws down, hard, blocking Troy's air.

Troy's eyes were about to roll back, when he saw something gray knock Hawk off of him. Unfortunately, it was Seth. "Take care of the girl!" he snarled. "I'll handle _this_ pitiful wreck."

Hawk narrowed his eyes. He flexed his claws, as if imagining Troy's throat still under them, but obeyed after a long hesitation. "And don't kill her!" Seth added. "Not yet…" he smirked as he neared his jaws to Troy's face. Troy snapped at the Head-Alpha's muzzle.

He yelped but regained his composure quickly. "What do I look like, caribou? It'll take more than that to hurt me…"

Seth wrapped his jaws around Troy's neck. "I'll let you live…" he growled around Troy's throat fur. "Only to let you go tell your parents about this. Go ahead. Tell them. I'll be taking their daughter. If they want her…they'll have to come to my mother's den to get her. In Southern Pack territory. Come without them, I'll kill you both on the spot. Don't come at all, she'll be killed, no questions asked."

Seth dropped Troy, making the red and white wolf yelp. He put his unbroken paw on Troy's head, forcing it down. "Enough! Stop attacking!" he ordered. The wolves calmed down after a few seconds to comprehend what their leader had said.

"Alright," Seth's voice echoed off the mountain walls. "It's about time we took the little princess on her field trip. Who has her?"

The wolves parted as one of them threw Luna from his jaws and onto the ground. She whimpered as she hit the floor. She was scratched and bleeding all over. When she tried to stand, her legs only gave way immediately. Troy struggled underneath Seth to get to her.

"Luna!" Logan whimpered. He was in no better condition. He was being stood on top of by Max, who only shredded his belly for speaking up.

"Leave him—!" Luna rasped.

"If you think he's got it bad, wait till you see what's in store for you," Seth snickered. "Nick," he turned to the brown and white wolf. "Take this one back to his border," Seth looked at Troy underneath him. "In fact, why don't you 'drop him off' in his territory."

Nick nodded. As Seth stepped off of Troy, he lunged and tried to get to his sister, but Nick already had his scruff and was pulling him around her. Troy's scruff was about to rip off as he desperately pulled towards her. She only whimpered and made failed attempts to stand up. Logan received claws pressed to his throat as he tried to help.

Nick had to literally drag and thrashing and pulling Troy. Finally they reached the cliff by the waterfall. Nick dragged Troy to where half of his body hung over the edge. He released his scruff. Troy scrambled and clawed to pull himself up. But Nick pressed a forepaw between Troy's eyes. He smirked before pushing him.

Troy tried to do a fancy Alpha flip as he fell down. He somehow managed to land on his forepaws, but it still hurt like crazy. He was so weak and could barely stay awake as he looked up to see Nick's head looking down at him.

"Sorry 'bout that old pal. By the way, you've got 'till the full moon reaches its highest point tomorrow to tell your folks. See 'ya!"

And with that, Nick disappeared into his own territory. Troy growled. Furious, he stumbled to his paws and clawed at the cliff face. He only slipped and fell down again. He tried again and again, but each ended the same way.

Troy fell down one last time and couldn't get back up. He whimpered and tried, but his legs shook and failed him. He whimpered again.

"I'm so sorry Loony…" he whispered. He put a paw over his snout, covering his eyes and gave way to dizzying blackness.

* * *

><p><strong>Has Troy died? Will Luna die? Has Cheyenne died? What's in store for Logan? And is there a traitor amongst the WesternEastern pack—whoops!**

**Yeesh, I've got myself on the edge of my seat. Well what do _you_ think is going to happen? Who do you think is the traitor in Winston/Tony's pack—dang it!**

**Yeah, I feel like being mean and actually _waiting_ to update. Irritating much? **

**Curse you for having a birthday, mother!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hi, hi! Thought I'd wait an entire month or so to update? Nah. I just wanted to see if I left anyone on the edge of their seats and then make you mad. I actually would've had it up even sooner, but grandmother's funeral came up, mom wants a birthday party, and then I wasn't satisfied with how long the chapter was. Ugh.**

**In this chapter is a scene between Hayden and Jake that I kinda found as a waste of time, but I think it'll help those who want to get closer to who the traitor is.**

**Also, if I have any fellow Animals of Farthing Wood fans reading, there's a slight dig at a scene between Bold and one of the blue foxes.**

**So! Previous chapter: Luna's been kidnapped and taken to Southern territory where she will be killed when the full moon reaches its highest point. Or is she? And who is the traitor? (who am I kidding? My big mouth gave away we've been betrayed). I'll give you hint: expect the unexpected.**

**Sorry! I'm trying not to make these Authors Notes too long, but they're so important!**

* * *

><p>Kate walked through the Eastern territory. She was on her way to Salty's den. She was having trouble with Hayden's fur and needed to ask his mate what to use (she had forgotten). Kate felt guilty. She couldn't remember Salty's wife's name! Charlotte? Carlotta? No, that was their daughter. Margaret? No. Wasn't that her best friend's name?<p>

Kate shook her head. All this thinking had nearly made her walk into a tree. Kate giggled at herself and walked around the tree. _I'm sure Salty's mate's name will come back to me soon _she told herself.

Kate had gone to Eastern territory to pick up some good pine-combs. From here, she had to cross the main river to reach Salty's den. But the place was creepy and depressing. Especially alone. So Kate wanted to go around it, through the forest.

She leaped over the river cutting through the center of the forest. She squeaked and then giggled after landing in a pile of dead leaves.

Kate shook the brown and red leaves out of her fur and trotted on. She couldn't help but let her eyes stray to the waterfall. It was less creepy since she didn't have to worry about Eastern wolves jumping her.

But what Kate saw was worse than trespassers. She stopped and looked at something that was beside the waterfall. It was something big and red and had sticky fur. She had to squint to see it better.

Slowly, Kate began to recognize it as a wolf. Then it started to look like Garth. Except, this wolf was smaller and both left legs were completely red and both right legs were completely white.

"Oh my…Troy!" Kate gasped, dropping her pinecone. She leapt over the bush and raced to her nephew's side. He was so messy, she barely recognized him!

_Please don't let it be blood, please don't let it be blood, please don't let it be blood, please don't let it be blood!_ Kate chanted in her head.

Unfortunately, Kate's hopes were the opposite of the results she found. Troy was drenched with blood. Not all of it was his, but when Kate nudged him with her nose, his head limply rolled into his right paw. His other paw was covering his emerald eyes.

"Kate!"

Humphrey's voice sounded from behind her. Humphrey poked his head out from the bush Kate had hidden behind. The branches surrounded his head, making him look like he had a lion's mane.

"Kate! Glad I found 'ya. Hayden needs you to—" Humphrey cut himself off as he saw Kate, wide-eyed and crouching over something drenched with scarlet.

"Oh my gosh!" Humphrey exclaimed, racing to her side. A few bush twigs still clung to his neck fur. He finally recognized the unconscious mound of fur and his eyes widened too. "Wha—what happened?"

"I don't know! I—I was just—just walking by—and I just saw him like that! I didn't see anything!" Kate's voice became very squeaky.

"What'll we do?" Humphrey asked.

"We have to find Lilly. And Garth," Kate said determinedly. Her voice had returned to normal. "And my mom. I'll go."

"What should I do while you're gone?" Humphrey asked as she began to run off.

Kate halted and looked over her shoulder. "Try to clean up his wounds!"

"With—" Humphrey was interrupted as his mate ran off and out of sight. "—with what?"

Humphrey looked around. He then growled at himself. "Am I stupid?" he asked aloud, half-expecting Troy to answer. Humphrey dug his teeth into Troy's scruff and dragged the young Alpha into the river. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew," Humphrey muttered as he tasted the blood. He continued to mutter as he stood knee-high in the river and the sticky liquid washed off and flowed into his legs.

"Not all of this is his?" Humphrey wondered aloud. "Cool! Who would've guessed I'd be the uncle to a scrapper?"

* * *

><p>Kate ran through the valley. She had searched nearly everywhere for her sister and her mate. But they were no where to be found! Kate asked everyone she saw if they'd seen Garth or Lilly. But to no avail. Kate had decided to go to her parents. She knew they were in their den because they had told her in person after Head-Alpha training.<p>

Finally knowing someone was where she thought, Kate started running at top speed.

She saw Shakey and Janice's son, Lucas walking past her. Instinctively, she asked him while still running, "Have you seen Garth and or Lilly?"

"Yeah. Who hasn't?"

Kate sighed with disappointment. "Wait—what?" she squeaked, skidding to a halt and whipping around to face him.

Luke stopped and looked at her over his shoulder like she was crazy. "Um…yeah? Who doesn't know where they went."

"Apparently me," Kate replied. She walked closer to the young Omega. "Where did they go?"

"How have you not heard?" Luke's chocolate eyes suddenly darkened. "They heard from my dad that Luna was taken hostage by the Northern pack. They went to go take her back."

Kate's eyes widened. "The Northern pack has Luna?"

Luke nodded. "Isn't it awful?"

Kate tried to take deep breaths. "Very…okay, I want you to go to my parents' den and send them to the main river. Luna's brother is there and he needs healing. Tell them Humphrey and I went to help Lilly and Garth."

Kate prepared to run back to her mate but Luke made her stop. "Wait!" he hesitated as she looked at him over her shoulder. "Um…are you sure you want to go with Lilly and Garth? I mean…I'm sure they can handle it. After all, it is _their_ daughter."

"But Lilly is my sister, Luna is my niece, and Garth is my friend," Kate argued. "Just do what I said. Trust me, I've got this." And she turned and fled, unable to let Luke stop her again.

"Oh dad…" Luke shook his head before reluctantly obeying his future Head-Alpha.

* * *

><p>Troy felt something wet and soft pressed against his forehead. He felt water trickle into his mouth and slide down his throat.<p>

Troy coughed and blinked rapidly. He sat up, feeling slightly confused of what had happened. He saw all three of his grandparents surrounding him. Eve had wet moss pressed against his forehead.

"Troy! You're alive!" Winston exclaimed.

Troy felt a little dazed. "Where am I?"

"At the waterfall, by the main river," Eve explained, trying to sound motherly. "What happened to you, dear?"

Troy's head was aching. It ached twice as much as everything from yesterday came flooding back to him. "Luna! She's been taken hostage! I have to find mom and dad!"

Troy leapt to his paws and was scrambling to run to his den, but Eve bit into his tail and Winston blocked the way with his paw.

"Easy there," Winston was cut off as his grandson growled with frustration.

"I will not be easy! My sister is in trouble!"

"Calm down!" Eve snapped. She slapped a paw on the back of Troy's neck. He yelped and finally sat still. "Now, stay still so I can work properly," Eve said, calmer now. She pressed spider webs to Troy's wounds and cooled his head with some more wet moss.

"As for Luna, don't fret my boy," Winston went on. Tony tried to make himself useful by nodding every now and then. "Your parents went to fetch her from Northern territory. Your aunt and uncle are right behind them should the Northerners react with hostility."

Troy sighed with relief and accepted his grandmother's treatments, relaxed. Then he thought about his grandfather's words and comprehended them, making him tense again. "Wait…Northern?"

Tony and Winston nodded.

"No. Oh no, no, no, no, _no_," Troy scrambled to stand again. Eve caught his tail again.

"Whoa, there rabbit foot," her muffled voice came through tail fur. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To Northern pack territory! It's a trap!" Troy replied in a rushed tone.

Tony and Winston stood up, fighting panic. "What's a trap?" Tony demanded.

"Luna! They took her to Southern pack territory! Who told mom and dad to go to Northern?" he asked, wondering who would be so stupid!

"Luke said he heard it from his dad," Eve seemed to be addressing Winston and Tony.

"Who's his dad?" Tony didn't exactly remember too much when it came to Omegas.

"Shakey, Humphrey's friend," Winston answered before turning to Troy. "How do you know this, Troy?"

"Because I was there!" Troy's voice was rising from the fear he felt for his family. "I was there when they took her! I tried to help her, but they just threw me away! Literally!"

"How did they take her? When was this?" Eve abandoned the moss completely as her claws slid out.

"They—" Troy cut himself off. Should he tell them about Logan and Luna's meetings? No. Not now. "Er…we were exploring the forest above the waterfall. Not even that near the border. They jumped out of nowhere and just took her. They told me I had to tell my folks to go to Seth's mother's den to get her. And I had only until the full moon tomorrow to get her before they killed her!" It hurt Troy's head even more to remember all of this. He blamed the bump he could feel on top.

"Was Shakey with you? Or Luke?" Winston asked.

Troy shook his head. His expression gave away he didn't even know how that was involved.

"Then how did they hear…" Winston shook his head. "Never mind. Obviously one of these is a trap. Eve, you, Tony and I will take Candu with us to Southern territory. We'll have to do our best to get Luna back. We'll send Hutch to warn Kate and the others."

Eve nodded and flexed her claws.

"Troy," Tony continued for Winston. "You will stay here with Hayden and watch over the Omegas. Eve, you're the fastest here. Go gather our Alphas. Former Eastern ones go with us. Former Western ones will go with Hutch."

All these orders so fast was making Troy's head spin! Ache or no ache!

"Wait—what do I do?"

"You stay with Hayden—"

Troy cut off Winston again by holding up a paw. "Oh, no. I heard you. Do you expect me to stay here?" Troy tried to ignore the tearing of his heart as he reminded himself of his sister. For all he knew, she could be getting tortured and pulled limb from limb just for Seth to have a decent laugh!

"Yes and you must," Eve declared.

"No way! That's my sister and my parents and my uncle/aunt. My family! As well as yours," he added, remembering these wolves were related to all of them too.

"Troy, Hayden needs someone to help her guard the pack," Tony argued. "You and your former classmates will be the only Alphas left in the pack."

"Start going, Eve," Winston told his mate. "We don't have much time! The full moon is tonight!"

"Wha…I thought it was yesterday!" Troy exclaimed.

"No. It's been tonight. You were out all night yesterday," Winston replied.

Then why had Luke asked Luna yesterday?

Eve jumped over Troy and disappeared in the trees. "Troy, you find Hayden," Winston ordered. "Tell her and your friends that they will be guarding the pack from a possible attack by themselves tonight."

_Why not just tell them to stay calm after saying they're each having a stroke?_ Troy thought bitterly.

Winston and Tony raced after Eve. They were probably going to fetch Hutch and Candu.

Troy sat there, staring at the shadows where his grandparents had disappeared. He was torn. He knew it was his duty to obey his grandparents and care for the pack while they were gone. But he had to care for his family too! Sure, he had his cousins there still and they felt like an extra brother and sister, but it wouldn't be the same.

But Troy wasn't alone. That was Hayden and Jake's family flinging themselves into danger as well.

Troy finally made a decision. He stood up determinedly before darting towards the Hunting Valley.

* * *

><p>Luke pawed through the bush branches. The sun was setting at last and he had been sent out to find pine-combs for his friends since they were too lazy to do so themselves.<p>

Luke jerked his head out of the thorns and branches when he heard paw steps coming at him at top speed. It was a red and white wolf with completely red left legs and completely white right legs. Troy! What did the future Head-Alpha want now? _Be nice to him_, Luke told himself. _He's Luna's brother. And a protective one_…

Troy skidded to a halt in front of the gray-brown Omega, panting like crazy. "Luke!" he breathed. "Have you seen Hayden anywhere? I need to see her. Fast."

"Okay eager beaver," Luke muttered. To Troy, he said, "Nope."

Troy growled and clawed at the unfortunate grass below him. Something snapped in his mind. "How did your dad know about my sister getting attacked?"

Luke seemed shocked at the question. Troy noticed he was being oddly fearful. In fact, now that he'd given it some thought, Luke had been jumpy around all the Alphas that day.

"Do you know something we don't?" he asked the Omega suspiciously.

"Me? I'm nothing but a useless Omega," Luke rolled his eyes. "What secrets could possibly be shared with me?"

Troy still couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right within his pack…

"So…is your sister alright?" Luke fretted.

Troy sighed. "I wouldn't know," he responded crossly. "For all we know, she could be used as a Seth's chew toy." Troy shuddered at the thought. Luke did the same.

_What am I thinking? _Troy growled at himself in his head. _I can trust my packmates! If not, who? Besides, if I had any reason to be suspicious, it couldn't be Luke. He likes my sister! As in…like, _like_. _It was tough for a brother as protective as Troy to admit that his sister was involved in a love triangle.

"Thanks for your time either way, Luke," Troy dipped his head before bounding away. At the last moment, he slowed to a stop. He thought about something before turning to look at Luke. "If you see Hayden…" he seemed to be regretting whatever he'd decided. "Tell her she's in charge of the pack until I get back."

Luke looked puzzled, but nodded and dashed away.

"_If_ I come back…" Troy murmured before turning and hared off in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>Hayden walked up the hill. She saw where there was a whole stash of logs. Great for log sledding.<p>

Tonight was her first Moonlight Howl. It made Hayden feel like she was growing up…and too fast. The idea made her sentimental. Whenever she was sentimental, she would walk around and look at decent logs to remember the good times when she was younger and carefree and could log-sled with her family willy-nilly.

Hayden suddenly saw a gold-tan form at the bottom of the hill, opposite of where she had just came. She immediately recognized the light gray chest/underbelly and black ears.

"Jake!" she exclaimed. Her brother came up across from her, panting his heart out. "You okay? What's the rush?"

"Urgent stuff!" Jake barked. "Luna's been kidnapped! Troy ran away! Mom and Dad are about to fall into a trap! You're the only one who can protect the pack!" he panted some more before shaking the terrorized look in his eyes. "So how was your day?"

"What?"

"I thought so." Panic returned in Jake's dark blue eyes.

"How—how did this—?"

"I don't know!"

"And mom and dad…?"

"I know!"

"But—!"

"Exactly! But rumor has it there's a traitor in our midst. And that uncle Shakey set them up…" Jake said softly.

"Why would—?" Hayden loved the idea she didn't even have to finish a sentence for her brother to get what she was saying.

"Don't know," Jake shrugged. "But how else would he tell Aunt Lilly and Uncle Garth that Luna was captured?"

Hayden shook her head and thought carefully. Shakey would never betray his best friend! "Uncle Shakey's been framed," she decided aloud.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why would he threaten the lives of dad? They've been best friends since…well longer than he was with mom."

Jake's eyes widened. "That's a long time."

Hayden nodded in agreement. "But I do believe someone's betrayed us. Someone had to set up mom and dad…"

"I love how your mind is so smart!" Jake commented. He flopped into a laying down position and watched his sister think with his head on his paws.

"Well…" it had been a long time since Hayden had helped solve a mystery. "Who did you hear this from?"

"Maggie. Who heard it from Carlotta who heard it from Delilah who heard it from Brock who heard it from Lyra who heard it from Jen who heard it from Angie who heard it from Dixie who heard it from Brad who heard it from Sarah who heard it from—"

"Okay I get it!" Hayden snapped. "It a rumor that's been spreading…hmm. Well, who did Uncle Shakey tell first?"

"No one knows. My guess is Luke. He is his son."

"Huh…"

_Something is not right here_! Hayden thought. _It's time to question other witnesses_. Hayden turned to find Luke.

"Where are you going?" Jake jumped to his paws.

"To find Luke."

"He's not here."

Hayden stopped. She looked at her littermate over her shoulder. "What?"

"Yeah. Luke went with Troy to assist Grandma and Grandpa. Not that they need it. They took half the Alphas with them!"

Hayden thought this over for a moment. Luke was her only hope of stopping whoever was disturbing her trust in her packmates. _What if it's Jake…?_

With one look back at her brother who was scratching behind his ear, Hayden stomped down hard on her own paw. How could she think such things? Not even Jake was crazy enough to betray his fellow traitors. Hayden shook her head.

_Am I the only one who suffers from being smart?_ she wailed mentally.

* * *

><p>The white wolf shivered as bitter wind sliced through her open wounds like icy claws. She whimpered.<p>

"It's okay," assured a voice near her. A gentle mass of fur crawled on top of her and tried to be a wolf blanket for her.

The female tried to thank him, but all that came out was a sneeze as a sole water droplet dropped onto her nose.

"Bless you. Stupid leaks. Mother never did have a good parental sense," the male joked. "I was born here you know. Ma was desperate."

"It's lovely…in a way."

"Only if you tilt your head and close one eye and cover the other one."

The female laughed. But it was more at herself who'd actually obeyed.

The male turned his head to the cave entrance and saw a light gray wolf with a black head replace the current wolf sitting there. He nudged the white wolf. "Hey! Look. There swapping guards."

The female looked at the entrance with gloomy eyes. "Logan, what's so great about that?"

"It's Roger," Logan replied. "He's one of the most naïve wolves here. Just watch."

Logan waited for the first wolf to leave earshot completely before letting out a long, mournful howl. Luna jumped with surprise.

"What's up with you?" Roger asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"It's the prisoner! She's dying!"

"I am?"

"Shh!"

Luna clamped her jaws shut and watched.

"Dying? But how?" Roger was standing up now. He looked into the cave, but it was too dark for him to see them clearly.

"Seth must've wounded her too badly. She's bleeding her life away!" Logan yelped dramatically. He stepped on Luna's red tail, making her howl with pain.

Roger was surprised. "Her life? But…but can't she wait? At least until Seth comes back? He's only gone to Northern pack territory."

Luna was finally catching on. "I…I see something…bright! And Grandma!"

"I think he'll be too late…!" Logan whined to Roger. He whispered to Luna, "When I say go, you run like a mad moose! Got it?"

"Only if you're behind me!" Luna whispered back, determinedly.

"Fine."

Roger was starting to put cautious paws into the cave.

"I think she's…going…" Logan said dramatically.

Roger was moving closer, faster. "Going where?" he asked.

"To heaven, you stupid dimbo!" Logan snapped.

Luna's eyes widened. She might've not been the best actor, but she knew that wasn't the best thing to say!

Luckily, Roger didn't hear much past 'heaven'. "But…can't you just hold on? For at least two more minutes? He should be done killing those Alphas by now."

By now, Roger was dangerously close to seeing Luna tense and slide her claws out.

Logan elbowed her roughly. "Not yet," he hissed.

"I…I'm losing her!" Logan wailed. "Stay with us Luna!"

"Can't…resist…grandmother…" Luna rasped, lying down on her side.

"Don't push it," Logan muttered.

"Sorry," Luna whispered back. She let out short, ragged, gasps for breaths. Logan was so convinced, he thought she really was dying.

Roger was walking right in front of them by now.

"She's…gone…" Logan breathed as if seeing Luna die was the most beautiful thing ever. Logan scratched at the floor anxiously as Luna didn't get that that was the signal.

"As in…you're going! Right now!"

"Oh!" Luna finally got the message. She leapt to her paws and raced out of the cave in the blink of an eye. Logan was hot on her heels. Roger yelped with surprise as he was toppled over by Logan, who had pushed him.

The pair disappeared from the cave. Roger appeared in the entrance. He growled. "Hey! Hey!" He yelled to the other Seth followers. "The prisoners have escaped! I repeat! The prisoners are escaping!"

Luna and Logan were both surprised at how many of Seth's followers had been so close. They were all hot on their tails in a matter of seconds after Roger's call.

But Luna was faster. She managed to slow down enough for Logan to pull ahead of her. She'd be fine if she could sprint at the speed she could. Logan was slower. She had to keep an eye on him.

Logan had panicked when Luna willingly slowed down. But he quickly caught on that she was only worried about him. He tried to flee as fast as he could to encourage her that he was fine. It was her they wanted!

The enemy wolves were following them frightening close. Most of the Southern wolves had dark colored pelts, making them look like shadows coming alive to team up against Logan.

Why did everything in the world have to be against Logan? He finds a girl that makes him happy and then Seth always swoops in and claws the happiness away like an eagle. Logan was sick of it! He'd rebel against Seth. He'd get Cheyenne back. But first, he had to make sure Luna was out of harms' way.

Logan led Luna into the dense woods. It was easy to lose someone in there (Logan would know). Logan tried his best to keep himself in Luna's sight but the trees and shrubs were packed so tightly together. He was getting farther from her, but her bright pelt was hard to miss. He hoped that wouldn't be a giveaway to Seth's followers too.

Logan panted. He was running very fast now. He was getting carried away. His mind was overtaken by memories of being a pup. Racing his brother, who was good back then. He picked up speed. He did fancy leaps over tree roots and rivers (so that a splash wouldn't giveaway his position by making noise).

It wasn't until Logan heard a scream from behind, that he remembered that this was the present. He had to protect Luna! Logan slid to a halt in the center of one of the few clearings. The rising moon shone on his gray pelt. It only reminded him of how beautiful Luna looked in moonlight…

Luna! Logan had thought she was still beside him! But she was gone!

Logan growled and stamped a paw on the ground with frustration and anger. "Stupid! Stupid! You stupid pup! Stupid memories, distracting me! I'm so stupid!"

"I'll say."

Logan whipped around. From the bushes emerged a red and white wolf. Logan's age.

"You! Troy, is it?"

Troy only snarled and crouched, ready to pounce. His claws gleamed in the moonlight.

"Now, now, I know you're upset, but—"

"Upset?" Troy spat. "After all this, you think I'm upset? No. I'm furious. I'm outraged. I am going to kill somebody—!"

"Okay…I get that you might think this is all my fault. I admit that—"

"Shut up!" Troy snapped. He wasn't in the mood to hear something he didn't feel would help. "Where are my parents? Where are my grandparents? Where is my sister?"

"Hey now," Logan held up a paw. He tried to keep Troy calm. "I know this looks bad. But believe me, I'm on your side. Luna certainly trusts me."

That made Troy hesitate to say more threats.

"And you trust Cheyenne, no? What makes me any different?"

Troy growled suspiciously, but sat down. "Your Seth's brother. But…Luna loves you. Knowing her, her judge of character hasn't failed. So what're you doing out here?"

"I was trying to help Luna escape," Logan sighed with disappoint with himself. "But Seth's followers came out of nowhere and I guess they caught her. I lost sight of her when we hit the heart of the forest."

Troy nodded in understanding. He looked up at the sky and saw the full moon. His emerald eyes widened.

"What? Missing your Moonlight Howl?" Logan asked. He felt bad. With all this going on, the event was most likely cancelled.

"No…" Troy's voice shook with something beyond terror. "It's the full moon. It's reached its highest point…."

* * *

><p><strong>Actually, it's 1:15 a.m. where I am, but I appreciate the concern! So? Who's the traitor? Give your opinion on my new poll on my profile!<strong>

**Next chapter: Is Luna doomed to die? Who's fallen into a trap? What's happened to Cheyenne? Will Troy ever trust Logan? Will my Chihuahua ever learn to say more than 'huggles'? Whoops, gone off subject haven't I?**

**Look for the next chapter to find out! Except that last part. That you can learn in Chihuahuish Language class.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Cutie here! Sorry for the long wait. I went to visit my dad & then began a Harry Potter fic (I've got the exciting middle part and epilogue and possibly ending, but the dang beginning is too boring!). **

**To make up for it, I present you with a nice, juicy chapter! **

**Disclaimer: Lionsgate owns half the characters in this story. 'Laughing at my life' line was inspired by a wise woman: Reba.**

* * *

><p>Lilly walked through the unfamiliar territory with head hung low. It was near sunset and she was resisting the urge to tuck her tail between her legs as the territory began to feel more and more creepy. She was about to be Head-Alpha. She couldn't appear weak to her enemies.<p>

_Am I stupid? _Lillythought._ All this time, I've questioned if I've been spending too much time away from my family. Meanwhile the Northern/Southern pack was plotting to kidnap one of my pups! What do they want with her anyways? Probably for something I don't even know about because I'm a terrible mother! _

Lilly began to whimper quietly. Garth looked at her, concerned. He nuzzled her cheek. "It's okay," he soothed. "We're going to get her back."

"It's not that…it's just…do you think we could've prevented this?" Lilly wondered. "Maybe if we were spent more time with her and Troy…could we have stopped it?"

"Enemy packs are extremely unpredictable," Garth pointed out. "I don't think we could've done anything to prevent this. Maybe if we set limits or were more thoughtful of how close to the border their—" Garth probably should've stopped there. "I mean! Not that—" Garth stammered when Lilly looked even sadder.

He was saved as they both turned to see two wolves racing towards them.

"Lilly! Barf!"

"It's Garth," Garth rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"No time for that," Kate panted as she skidded to a halt in front of her sister.

"Kate. Humphrey. What're you doing here?" Lilly wondered.

The two paused to catch their breaths. "We finally heard about what happened with Luna. We want to help," Kate explained at last.

"Why?" Garth cocked his head.

"Because we hope the Northerners will share their donuts!" Humphrey said sarcastically. "What do you think?"

"She's our niece. We care about her too," Kate answered for them. "And after what we did for Troy, the least you could do is let us tag along. You never know what those Northerners will do these days. Especially with a Southern-raised as their leader."

"What did you do for Troy?" Lilly questioned.

"We found him by the waterfall all bloody and wounded. We cared for him until mom came, so we could come and help you guys," Kate informed her in a rush.

Lilly whimpered again at the thought of not being there for her injured son (she didn't even know he had been injured at all!).

Kate ignored her sister's saddened expression. "So? Are we going to fetch Luna or stand here waiting for her to pop out of the flowers?"

She elbowed Humphrey roughly as he actually started to nose through the flowers next to him. "Oh! Um…I knew we weren't really doing that," he avoided his friends' gaze.

Kate tried to ignore her frustration with her mate's momentary idiocy. "Humphrey, please tell me you were joking," she mumbled, her paw on her snout.

"Well…I…ahem. Are we going to find Luna or wait for her to crawl out of our ears?" he changed the subject, walking quickly past them.

To be funny, Lilly actually stood on the tip of her paws to look into Garth's ears before walking into what must've been the heart of Northern territory.

* * *

><p>"It had to be an Alpha," Hayden decided. She was walking towards the usual hunting valley with Jake by her side. She was thinking carefully and Jake was watching her and listening intently. Being an Omega, Jake instinctively walked with his head held a little low. But his interested smile told Hayden it was only because of an Omega thing.<p>

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"There's no way a Head-Alpha would ever pay attention to what an Omega would say," Hayden explained. "Oh, no offense Jake!" she added quickly, blushing a little. Jake didn't seem to notice.

"Well that narrows it down to about half the pack. But you now what they're saying. Uncle Shakey was the first to find out," Jake pointed out.

"But who was the second…?" Hayden wondered, half to herself. She started to limp as she put a paw on her muzzle to think better, like her dad did sometimes.

"Well what does it matter anyways?" Jake tilted his head.

"You said so yourself, someone betrayed mom and dad," the young Alpha reminded him. "How else would Aunt Lilly and Uncle Garth know before the rest of the pack what happened to Luna?" She paused to think some more. "Okay…who has it out for our parents or Aunt and Uncle?"

"Don't know. Someone who hates Luna or Troy? Or us maybe?"

"Can you think of anyone who hates us?"

Jake shook his head.

"And who would possibly hate Luna or Troy?"

"Don't know."

"Okay. So…it had to be someone who wants power. Who thinks they can gain something if something happens to mom and dad?"

"Hutch?"

"He's our other grandfather!"

"Oh yeah…"

"Maybe Candu? He's always sought the aggressive side out if you know what I mean."

"I doubt it."

Hayden growled with frustration. "What if someone just wanted to frame Uncle Shakey?" she thought aloud. "You know, make it seem he was a traitor to us. Maybe it was a coincidence Uncle Shakey saw the attack. Someone who hates _him _and wants him to get in trouble."

"I never would've thought of that."

Hayden sighed. "I hope they're all okay."

Jake shrugged. "Well, you know how it is. Ever since the Northerners united with the Southerners they adapted to the cruel and heartless lifestyle. Why, mom and dad are probably dead. Uncle Garth is getting beat up like there's no tomorrow. Aunt Lilly's most likely being tortured by watching Luna get ripped limb from limb. And Troy…possibly lost in the woods, running for his life and fell off a cliff ten seconds ago. Grandpa, for all we know, could be—"

"Jake!" Hayden squeaked.

"Sorry."

"You know? I always thought Omegas were meant to make us feel bet—" Hayden was cut off as they were both nearly trampled by something furry and huge. She let out a small squeak of surprise as she leapt out of the way, Jake quietly hopping in the opposite direction.

"Mooch! I mean…_Uncle_ Mooch," Hayden corrected, calming down. "Where are you going?"

The large wolf finally saw the pair over his shoulder and skidded to a halt a few feet in front of them. He spun around in a circle to face them. "Where else? The hunting valley! The other Omegas are freaking out. The only Alphas left in the territory don't know what to do." Mooch started to say something else, but he had already turned and was running again.

Hayden and Jake exchanged a glance before pelting after him. They both slid to a halt behind a pair of bushes. The usually bright valley was covered with dark rain clouds and the sun was setting. The valley was covered in young wolves running around, yelling at each other and panicking. Older ones, like Mooch and Salty were trying to calm them down, making them snap as well.

"Jake! What do we do?" since she was in charge, Hayden had to hide her own panic. But how could she?

Jake darted into the center of the valley, bouncing among his friends, trying to talk them into relaxing. "Hey! Guys! Calm down! Hey! Quit it—" Hayden lost sight of her brother in the massive cloud of wolves.

She turned and leaped from rock to rock until she was standing on the side of the valley. "_Shut it_!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Every wolf below froze in place (aside from one or two that couldn't stay on their hind legs much longer).

"What do you think you're doing?" Hayden demanded. Her voice echoed off the other rocks on the sides of the valley, making her sound more like a leader. "All this panicking and yelling? If this screaming doesn't cause a stampede, then it'll surely reveal we're all here alone and exposed to an attack from Southern wolves. So shut up, and if you're an Omega, go back to your dens, relax, and stay there until my parents and grandparents get here."

The Omegas dipped their heads and began to walk back to their dens silently. The teenage Alphas watched them go, then looked back up at Hayden expectantly.

"Except you," Hayden pointed to her brother. Jake paused and looked up at her over his shoulder. She gestured with her head for Jake to come up beside her. He obeyed.

"Hi, hi," Jake greeted casually as he trotted up and stood beside her, head still low. Hayden felt more confident with him so calm beside her.

"Alright Alphas," Hayden addressed her friends. "Now, I want no trouble, no panicking, and no freaking out the Omegas." Hayden looked at a specific group of Alphas that were hiding embarrassedly behind Delilah.

"And, we have fewer mouths to feed but more work to do since we're not as good as our parents."

The young wolves growled with offense.

"Oh! Wake up and smell the roses," Hayden snapped. "We're all amateurs, even me. Anyways, hunting…" Hayden paused to think her plans over. She was mentally drawing a line to divide the valley in half. "Okay. If a stampede started randomly, those of you who'd go to the left side of the valley, hunt in what was formerly Western pack territory. Those who'd go to the right, Eastern. Bring the prey to an Omega's den and then your own."

"What about border patrols?" someone asked.

"Better not go there," Hayden decided. "But otherwise, do stuff as if this were any other day. Except your parents are most likely not home. Stay in your dens and try to just…well, hang out there. Bond with your siblings. If you don't have any, go with a friend. Just try to stay in one place and under a roof."

The Alphas all nodded and padded away to carry out their duties.

"You are one impressive sis," Jake commented when they all left earshot. "So what 'ya need me to do?"

"Stick with me while we go to our own den and figure out this traitor thing," Hayden replied. "Because I'm freaking out!"

* * *

><p>The sun was long gone by now. Lilly was extremely nervous. They must've walked across the entire territory and there was still no sign of life.<p>

Lilly suddenly halted and tensed. "Did anyone else hear that?" she whispered to her companions. They stopped and pricked their ears. They heard it too. A low rumbling noise, like a stampede. Except there was something different about this one. It was more like paws….

"Northern wolves?" Humphrey guessed.

"Okay…we just need to stay calm and confront them like adults. For all we know this whole thing was a misunder—wait…Lilly? Lilly!" Kate called.

Lilly had broken into a run. She had finally seen the huge rock. It looked like Howling Rock but it had many dips and caves where The Northern wolves slept. At the top was one cave resembling a cherry over ice cream. She guessed it was Seth's cave. She was running towards it at top speed, desperate to get her daughter back before Luna got hurt.

Kate and company ran after her, thinking she was running with fear. Secretly, they were afraid too, but they needed to stick together. But Lilly was so fast!

"Kate! Stop!"

How did Northern wolves know her name? Confused, Kate looked over her shoulder, making her not notice something coming from the side and collide with her. Garth, Humphrey, and even Lilly slid to a stop and whipped around to see what had attacked Kate.

The gold female moaned at the pain from where she had been hit. She heard another wolf moan too.

"Who are you Northerner?" Humphrey demanded as Kate came to her senses.

Beside her was a cream and gold young female rubbing her pink nose from where it had collided with Kate.

"Cheyenne," she finally answered, sitting up. She was scarred and had many bruises, some older than others. "I was just escaping from Seth and his crew. Who are you?"

"Humphrey. Future Head-Alpha of the Untied Western and Eastern pack," Humphrey replied proudly.

"I'm Garth. Also that. These are our mates, Lilly and Kate, who your face just met."

"Sorry about th—wait, you're the Head-Alphas?" Cheyenne's eyes suddenly widened.

All four wolves nodded.

"Oh no! You—you can't be here!" Cheyenne yelped, her ears flattened against her head.

"And why not?" Lilly squeaked.

"It's a trap! He doesn't have your daughter here!" Cheyenne whimpered, turning to Lilly and Garth (she saw their resemblance to Luna). "She's on the other side of Jasper Park! After he's done here, he'll only kill her!"

Kate sat up, eyes wide with alarm. "What?"

"Luna isn't here! She's in Southern territory. They'll kill her any minute now that the moon's done rising. You have to get out of here before someone finds you!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Garth held up a paw. "Why are you so concerned about what happens to us? What makes you want to betray your own pack?"

"Yeah. You barely know us," Humphrey agreed. "For all we know, this could be a trap to make us fall into a trap by making us think we falling into a trap because…the whole thing is a trap?" He began walking closer to Cheyenne. She nervously backed away until she bumped into Kate.

"Oh! Um…er…I'm," she stammered. The young wolf wouldn't take her eyes off Garth. "I…kinda…don't want to see you get hurt because I…er…_like_ your son," Cheyenne shrugged, trying to look innocent.

She waited. She waited for them to yell or get mad or something. To Cheyenne's shock, Troy's parents just laughed. "How could you? You haven't even met him!" Garth chuckled.

"But I have! I met him where Luna and Logan usually meet!" Cheyenne protested.

Lilly's face immediately switched to what others look like when they just realized someone wasn't joking. Garth still thought she was and chuckled again. "Garth…I don't think she's kidding," Lilly said, elbowing her mate.

"I know. I'm just laughing at my life."

* * *

><p>"Your grandparents plan to do <em>what<em>?" Logan gasped. He and Troy had spent the past half hour sneaking around Seth's followers and searching for Luna. While doing so, Troy told Logan all about what his pack had planned to do while Luna was hostage.

"Keep it down!" Troy hissed. They were very close to one wolf that didn't look happy to be there.

"Sor-ee," Logan tore the grass with his claws.

"You heard what I said. Or were you just not paying attention?" Troy replied, looking around for a spot that looked like a good place to hide his sister or himself to get closer to where his sister was hidden.

"I paid attention!" Logan growled softly. "And if your grandparents come here, they're doomed!"

"Really?" Troy said sarcastically. "Are there any members of my family that aren't about to die?"

"Most likely not."

Troy growled, but it was more with frustration than anger towards Logan. "Well, where would they be keeping Luna?" he asked the grey wolf beside him.

"Don't know," Logan shrugged, looking around as well. "With me on the loose, they probably didn't even think very hard on where to hide her."

"With you on the loose, Seth is angry."

Troy and Logan both whipped around and gasped. Behind them were Seth's two favorites, Max and Hawk.

"Looking for something?" Max went on.

Logan jumped to his paws, every fiber in him burning with hate. "Only what you stole from this clown!"

Troy leapt to his paws, snarling. Then he comprehended Logan's words. "Hey!"

"Sorry. Meant to say—"

Logan yelped with pain as something brown pounced on him and pinned him down, sinking its claws deep into the sides of his fur.

"I said to listen to me you serial killer!" Max spat.

"Seth said to kill if necessary!" Hawk argued.

Troy darted forward and pushed Hawk off with his head. Hawk yelped with surprise, then whirled around, clawing at Troy. Logan jumped in the way. He took the unusually long claws down his side, yelping.

Troy prepared to block Hawk from attacking again, but Max jumped in his way, snarling. Troy crouched, ready to pounce. Instead, Logan leaped in from no where and snarled at Max. He raked his claws down his pack mate's muzzle.

"What are you doing?" Troy demanded as Logan fought both wolves, never giving Troy a chance to help.

"Distracting them, stupid!"

Troy ignored the last part. "You need to find Luna!" Logan was interrupted by teeth sinking into his back. "My spine!" he wailed.

"Quit griping, wimp," Hawk had to release Logan to speak. Logan knew he would and used it as a chance to whip around and bite into Hawk's neck. Hawk yelped and writhed to escape. Logan finally dropped him.

"Find Luna! I'll keep off these morons," Logan ordered as Hawk gasped for breath. Max jumped him from behind and tore his claws down Logan's flanks.

Troy backed away. Logan was fighting fiercely, but would he survive without help much longer?

Troy finally decided to obey. He whirled around and hared off into the shadows. He didn't care about Seth's followers seeing him. Logan was willing to sacrifice himself for Luna! Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all….

* * *

><p>"You mean to tell me my daughter was meeting with an enemy wolf behind my back?"<p>

Cheyenne (and even Kate a little bit) stumbled backwards with shock to see such a quiet wolf snap. The Northern she-wolf had just gotten done explaining the events of the previous month to Luna and Troy's family. Lilly didn't look happy at all.

Garth himself was mildly surprised to see his mate so angry. "Um…Lilly? Would you like to bite something?"

"Certainly not!" Cheyenne squeaked, wrapping her tail tightly to herself and holding on to it with her paws.

"He meant that," Kate assured her, pointing with her paw to the pine cone Garth was rolling towards Lilly. Lilly grabbed the pine cone in her mouth and sank her fangs deep into it. It snapped into many pieces and flew everywhere. Lilly spat out some last splinters and seemed to be more calm.

"Okay…" she took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm okay now. What were you saying dear?"

"I'd rather not repeat it…" Cheyenne muttered.

"Oh yeah. You were telling me how my own pup—!"

"Lilly!" Humphrey cleared his throat and trotted closer to the enraged female. "Ahem. Perhaps we should keep our voices down? In case Northerners hear us?"

"We're in front of their camp, I think they'll hear us by now!" Lilly retorted.

"Gee, you Western wolves are smarter than Seth said."

Cheyenne squeaked with surprise as she was jumped from behind and someone pinned her there. Kate, who had been sitting next to her, jumped sideways with surprise, squeaking as well.

The wolf who had spoken emerged from the shadows. It was a gray and white wolf. At his sides were none other than Nick and Seth. Seth smirked.

"Hi there, Cherry," his devious gaze fell on Cheyenne who was struggling to escape. "You're a clever little vixen aren't you? But no one can escape from me." He turned to Lilly, grinning evilly. "Not even your daughter."

The young Head-Alpha stepped forward, looking at all four wolves now. "Welcome my guests. Into your trap."

Garth snarled, ready to pounce on the Head-Alpha. Lilly snarled too, looking like Eve.

"No need for hostility. Before I kill you, I want you to feel homely. For at least the few minutes you have left to live. After all, don't you wish to know who's betrayed you?"

"We don't know what your talking about," Kate growled. "No one's betrayed us!"

"Then how do I know so much? I'm looking at him right now. Come out of the shadows boy!" Seth looked at the wolf pinning down Cheyenne. "It's time to see the consequences of your choice."

* * *

><p><strong>Find out who's betrayed us! Only a day away (or two at least)!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: for once, I don't know what to say here. So let's cut to the chase: **

**Hello from Cutie.**

**Disclaimer: do not own characters you see in the original movie.**

**Oh! And here's for a few of my reviewers:**

**Kswolf: yes he does, but Cheyenne is still his best friend. Kinda like Humphrey and Lilly's relationship (in this story anyways).**

**Bounder: I like Salty too! (aside from Humphrey & Lilly)**

**Funniest Alpha: I just like your review. Sorry to confuse you, but it makes me laugh. I now know why you got your pen name!**

**Story time! Last chapter of wondering whose betrayed us! Excited yet?**

* * *

><p>Luna shook violently. It was twice as cold without Logan to warm her. Through the hole in the roof she could see the full moon, showing off it was at its highest point. She flexed her claws. She was actually feeling a little…impatient. She was supposed to be killed half an hour ago. If there was no point in escaping why couldn't she get her murder over with already?<p>

_I bet mom and dad are putting up a good fight_, Luna thought. _They'll escape Seth and rescue me._

Luna pricked her ears. She lifted her head off her paws. At the entrance of the cave she heard scuffling and whimpers. Before she knew it, the shadows in front of her came to life, tossing a small wolf in front of her, making the wolf squeak.

"We've doubled the guards, so don't bother trying to trick me again," the wolf that had tossed her hissed at Luna. _As if I didn't notice that already!_ Luna thought crossly.

The wolf turned and walked back to the entrance, flicking his tail over Luna's nose. She growled with annoyance before putting her head back on her paws and sighing with defeat.

In front of her was a small female wolf shaking dust out of her fur and licking her scratches from when she tried to fight back against the guards. She was a dark brown color with a caramel-colored tail, chest, left forepaw, right ear, and patch over her left eye.

_Her markings look kind of like Cheyenne's_…Luna noticed.

"So, little fella, what're you in for?" Luna asked casually, crossing her forepaws.

The small wolf stopped tending to her scars and turned to Luna, copying her position. "Bait," she answered simply. "They want to lure my sister over here."

Luna nodded. "Same here. Seth wants to murder my parents and grandparents. It kinda sucks."

"Yes, I can see how that may suck," replied the other wolf. Her eyes were lavender like Lilly's. Luna's heart broke at the idea of her mother, who was most likely dead by now.

"I'm Selena."

"Luna," she held out her paw. The other wolf shook it.

"That's a pretty name," she complimented.

"Thanks. Yours too," Luna gave her a friendly smile.

"Thank you. Believe it or not, it was my dad's idea to name me that," Selena smiled back, flicking her caramel-colored tail. "Come to think of it, he might've named me after a wolf he was dating before my mother."

Luna giggled.

Selena chuckled a little bit too. "You really think that's funny?"

"Yeah. You're a really cute pup, pup."

"Thanks. I'm not a pup anymore, but thanks. I am an Omega but no one ever thinks I'm funny…" Selena admitted sadly.

"No one? Surely your parents…" Luna began.

"Not even them. They were always more supportive of their Alpha daughter and I don't think they ever even liked their lives together. When I was born, they actually volunteered me to be an Omega. I was a runt you see," Selena told her.

"That's depressing," Luna said, her ears drooping.

"Yeah…I know. But I'm just glad I finally grew into my ears," Selena joked, shaking her head, which made her ears slap the sides of her face. Luna giggled again.

"You know? It's a shame you don't live in my pack. I know tons of wolves that'd enjoy your company," Luna replied.

"Really?"

"Yep. Especially this one male I know, his name is Jake. I don't know what it is, but you just remind me of him. He's a close friend, but there's nothing going on between us. He's my cousin you see."

"Huh," Selena's head tilted with interest.

They both pricked their ears and turned their heads in the direction of the cave entrance. The two guards were arguing about something. Luna started to crawl forward, beckoning with her tail for Selena to follow.

"Surely Seth should be done with that murder by now," one guard commented.

"I agree. Those Eastern wolves really are tough, huh?" said the second one, a jet-black wolf with amber eyes.

The first wolf huffed. "Nothing's tougher than us Southern wolves."

"Southern _slash_ Northern. Remember?" the second one corrected.

Luna narrowed her eyes. She suddenly had an idea. She crawled closer to the first wolf, a dark brown one. "Did you know he thinks Northern is better than Southern pack wolves?" she whispered in his ear.

"What? Oh, shut up prisoner!" he hissed. Luna noticed his voice was too low for his companion to hear. She had him right where she wanted!

"While you were relieving yourself, he started to say some things to me. He said Northerners were a lot tougher than Southerners. I quote: 'Only a Northerner could've caught you. Southerners are only pretending to be tough so other packs don't attack them because they're so stupid—"

Luna hesitated when she saw the wolf's claws begin to scratch at the ground. She could practically see the steam blowing out of his black ears.

"What?" he growled.

"He doesn't think you have what it takes to impress Seth," Luna lied.

The wolf was snarling and slowly stood up, glaring icily at the other wolf that was calmly looking around. Luna shrank backwards.

"Dude, what up with you?" the black wolf asked, completely puzzled by his friend's behavior.

"Southerners aren't stupid!" the brown guard yelled. "Seth trusts me more than you!"

The brown wolf lunged for the black one, sending them both rolling away, snapping at his face while the other one yelped with shock. Luna pricked her ears, proud of herself.

"Come, come, my friend," she addressed Selena. "We have siblings to find and my family to save."

Selena blinked and stood up. Luna led her down the mountain and they both sprinted at top speed. Luna hoped this was the same forest that Logan had tried to lead her into. But on their way, the two females skidded to a halt. In front of them was a bunch of Seth's followers, looking surprised Luna escaped again, then angry for the same reason. Luna didn't realize that Seth hadn't taken _all_ of his followers to kill her family.

"Didn't think of that…" Luna muttered.

* * *

><p>Humphrey was the only one who saw the traitor's face before Seth ordered his wolves to attack. He was shocked someone he was so close to would do such a thing. He tried to avoid fighting his pack-mate and joined Garth in going straight for Seth.<p>

The gray and brown wolf was weaving among his charging followers. It looked like he was going for Lilly first. Humphrey growled and pounced on him, taking the young wolf by surprise. He managed to pin Seth down, but only to have someone knock him off three seconds later.

Humphrey found himself pinned down and forced to look into the piercing brown eyes of the wolf that had betrayed him. The traitor noticed Humphrey's shocked then angered look. "Thought you knew me, didn't you? Well I'm not some book that's so easy to read!" the traitor hissed.

"But why? I trusted you! The entire pack trusted you!" Humphrey yelped. "You had a carefree and perfect life, why give it up?"

"Perfect? I _never_ got what I wanted! I never had respect, I was always laughed at, and I was barely noticed by the girl I loved! My life was unfair! With Seth ruling, I'll earn the high rank I deserve."

"With Seth ruling? He'll only kill us all! If you thought your life was unfair, Seth's reign will make it worse! He's inconsiderate, heartless, and finds it amusing to watch someone die in front of him! And it'll be all your fault for his takeover! Your family and 'girl' will all die—"

"Shut up!" nothing was more strange than hearing someone you were so close to, sound so evil and hateful towards you. "Seth understands me and his rule will help me! I will have what I deserve. And if you can't be supportive, than die!"

Humphrey shut his eyes, prepared for a fatal blow.

* * *

><p>"Is anyone missing?" Hayden asked.<p>

Maggie and Delilah shook their heads at the same time. Both sisters had led one last party to the former Eastern territory to make sure no one was missing (except Luna and the rest of course).

"Okay. Thanks," Hayden dipped her head. "You should get home."

Maggie and Delilah nodded and padded away. Hayden turned to the second patrol. Their lead, Lyra, looked a bit more troubled. "Lyra? Was all casual in Western?" Hayden asked, trying to act like she hadn't noticed the cream-colored wolf's expression.

"Actually…we couldn't seem to find a few Omegas," Lyra replied.

"Which few?"

"If I recall correctly, Shakey and his family. Also Salty and Mooch."

"All of dad's friends…" Hayden murmured, forgetting her brother wasn't here at the moment. "Plus two."

Lyra pricked her ears, waiting for more directions.

"Okay, I'll do something about it," Hayden promised. "All of you go home. You never know what a Southerner would do if they find out I'm the only defense."

Lyra dipped her head and slowly walked away, her group trotting off in all directions.

"So what up with our case?"

Hayden jumped and even squeaked a little as her brother came up from behind her. "Jake!" she gasped. "Why don't you tell somebody when you're gonna do that?"

"Sorry," he apologized. He sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws. "But as I was saying. How's your 'traitor' case going?"

"Don't use air quotes!" Hayden scolded, flattening her ears. "I _know_ someone's out to get us."

"Sorry for the air quotes," Jake lifted one paw. "So? Any leads?"

"Five," Hayden looked down. "Five Omegas aren't here."

"You think one of them could be helping with the assassination of mom and dad?"

"I think…" Hayden's tail-tip twitched. "But none of them really had a motive to do so."

"Who were they?"

"Dad's friends. All three. Plus Shakey's mate and pup."

"Janice and Lucas?"

Hayden nodded.

Now it was Jake's turn to think carefully. "Hmm. It must be Janice. Salty, Shakey, and Mooch are dad's friends and Luke was helping Troy get Luna back. Janice doesn't exactly have an excuse to love dad. Why not hate him?"

Hayden shook her head. "It couldn't be her! Janice and Reba are not blood thirsty or ambitious for the Head-Alpha position. What about Luke? He was awfully jumpy today."

"No way. He loves Luna and was only jumpy because he's a naturally nervous nerd. Of course he'd be twice as nervous if his dad told him the Northerners were attacking. Of course he's missing, he told me he was going to help Troy!"

"Then that only leaves dad's friends," Hayden put her paw to her muzzle. "He was closest to Salty. So it couldn't be him."

"Maybe it could. You know the old term: keep your enemies closer than your friends. Dad trusts him, all the more reason to let his guard down around him," Jake shrugged.

"No. It just…couldn't be…" Hayden shook her head. "Mooch?"

"Nah. Not enough brains."

"It could be an act."

"True…"

"I hate this. For all we know, there could be no traitor."

"Someone had to have set up Uncle Garth and Aunt Lilly."

Hayden's light brown eyes narrowed mischievously. Jake's dark blue ones widened. "No…" he whispered. Louder, he exclaimed, "No, no! We were doing so fine on our own. Can't we just stay out of this one?"

Hayden shook her head. "Tell Delilah and Maggie they're in charge. We're going to help."

"We're dead," Jake whined.

* * *

><p>Luna stared wide-eyed at the angry wolves around her. She could tell Selena was fighting the urge to cower behind her. Luna recognized the pale brown form of Max push his way to the front of the crowd. She noticed he was bleeding and his ears were torn and he was favoring one of his hind legs. Where had he gotten so many injuries? And where was his partner in crime, Hawk?<p>

"Well, well, well," Max smirked. "Was our favorite little Omega attempting another escape?"

Luna opened her jaws to retort. "I…um…you see…! Er…would you believe the little puppy's room?"

Max shook his head.

"Course not. Mind if we just escorted ourselves back to the den? As if this was all just me and my friend trying to stretch our legs?" Luna offered. Selena gave a ridiculous smile when Luna addressed her as 'my friend.'

Max shook his head again. "Nope. That's not how we work in Southern territory. Get them—" Max was cut off as all heads turned, including his own. To their right, an old tree was tilting until it fell completely over. A wolf let out a loud yelp as he fell over too, revealing he must've pushed the weak tree over. He fell on top of it with a huff and scrambled to sit up. "I'm okay," he said, although he looked a little dazed.

Luna's never felt so happy to see him in her entire life and proved it by wagging her tail a mile a minute. "Troy!" she breathed.

"I thought Hawk and I dealt with you!" Max snarled.

"Well not even Hawk could stop all of them," Troy pointed with his nose to something behind him. Pure joy made Luna's heart skip a beat. Out of the shadows, was a snarling, fierce-looking group of Alphas. They were led by Tony, Winston, and Eve.

"Luna, dear!" Eve exclaimed and raced towards her granddaughter. She snarled threateningly at Selena.

"Oh no, she's my friend," Luna assured.

"Oh, what a cute little dear," Eve's expression switched to friendly and she patted Selena's head.

"You can't just storm into our territory and—"

"We're still Head-Alphas," Tony interrupted Max.

"You're all dead!" snarled on Southern wolf.

"Are we? May we remind you that more than half your pack is off trying to murder my daughters and one heck of a lot of us are here to get back my granddaughter," Winston retorted coolly.

The enemy wolves all looked suddenly uncomfortable and a little panicky. Three wolves broke from the back of the crowd and crawled up to Winston and Tony, trying to smile friendly.

"What are you doing?" demanded the black wolf from earlier. Luna hadn't noticed him sneak up behind her, the brown wolf with black ears at his side.

"There's no point in fighting anymore," said a tan female that seemed to be the leader. "We don't want Seth as a ruler. We want fair, considerate leaders like these guys. We're fighting for them."

The next few minutes shocked Luna more than anything else. Max—of all wolves!—walked up to Winston, looked him in the eyes, and stood beside him.

"Martha speaks the truth," he declared.

The Southern/Northern wolves exchanged glances with each other. Some snarled 'traitor' to Max and the three females. Others rolled their eyes at those wolves and walked to Winston. Unfortunately, it was barely half of them.

"If you won't join us, then surrender now," Winston told the remaining wolves. "You're outnumbered now."

"Southerners never surrender!" shouted the jet-black wolf. "Make on more move old man and we kill the girl on the spot!"

Eve snarled and pounced on him, both forepaws pressing deep onto his throat. The other wolves darted forward to pry her off their pack-mate. Winston and his group charged after them. Luna flexed her claws, ready to help, but was surprised to feel something bite into her tail and stop her. She prepared to fight off the enemy, but realized it was her brother.

"Troy!" Luna hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry! I should've listened to you! I should've trusted you! I'm so sorry."

"Later," Troy interrupted. "We need to make sure the other Alphas got to mom and dad in time!"

Luna nodded in agreement, but Troy had already begun to run. Together, they raced through the strange territory and then across their own. They were surprised to see Hayden and Jake on the way there. But there was no time to stop.

"What the?" Jake began. Before she knew it, Luna heard eight more paws pounding after her and her littermate. She didn't look back though. That would slow her down.

Finally, the young wolves were racing through most of Northern pack territory.

The siblings skidded to a halt. In front of them was the battlefield. The other Alphas from their pack had joined the fight. Luna was surprised to hear a deafening howl of pain coming from Seth himself.

In the center of the battle, he had been battling with an outraged Lilly. Now something on his rump was bleeding and Luna realized half his tail was missing!

Seth glared at the white wolf with rage. "You. Ripped. Off. My. Tail!"

Lilly spat out the piece of dark gray fur. "Never said I wouldn't."

Seth snarled. Now he was extremely mad. He lunged for Lilly. Troy and Luna didn't see the rest because they were both racing towards them.

Luna heard a familiar snarl behind her. She slid to a stop and turned to see the familiar shape of her uncle. He was pinned down by…

Luna's eyes widened. There was a traitor from her pack. He was ready to hurt Uncle Humphrey. The one who trusted him the most. She had been betrayed by…

* * *

><p><strong>Now, I know I'm not one to beg for reviews. But c'mon! That was one heck of a cliffhanger!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay, I know it's getting really good and you probably don't want to waste time here, but hear me out!**

**Okay, I must say I am surprised no one has figured it out yet. I thought I made it kinda obvious…yay for being the most modest person alive! These next few paragraphs should narrow it down and just when you have that "aha!" moment, Luna will scream his name out loud.**

**And another yay to my twelfth chapter! Twelve is one of my better numbers, but unfortunately that doesn't influence our chapter. In fact, this one is kinda boring…**

**I'm not entirely proud of this chapter's ending. But I just couldn't find a good place to end it! So I had to just cut it shorter instead of long.**

**Review Replies:**

**Night Howler: have you seen what that girl can do to a pine cone? When she's protecting her pups, it was bound to happen!**

**Shadyboy: Interesting you say that. I'm glad you want to see more of her. I really like Selena. She actually plays a huge part in the next episode of The Successors.**

**Kswolf: Yes, I've noticed I'm really mean. But to the characters I like, so that means I like you all! It makes for a happier ending!**

**Anywho, Disclaimer: don't own Movie characters. And I don't usually use bad language, but this story is writing itself! From this point, I am wasting your time, so reveal the traitor!**

* * *

><p>It was the dead of the night and four wolves were traveling through Jasper Park, towards Northern pack territory. The only female there was finally catching onto why they were really here.<p>

"Northern pack? You told me we were picking berries so Reba's pups could play berry ball!" she exclaimed to her mate.

"She's on the fifty," joked her mate's friend.

"Wait a minute…Northern territory…?" said the female Omega.

"The forty…"

"My only pup is missing…"

"The thirty…!"

The female halted and her eyes widened. "Are you trying to say I've been tricked into helping retrieve my only pup from Northerners?" she gasped.

"What do you know? She _jumped_ to the touchdown," said her mate's friend, slowing to a stop as well.

"Shut up, Salty," growled the female's mate. He seemed to be leading their expedition. "We save that one for dumb girls. Janice isn't dumb."

Salty huffed. "Well. I don't exactly want to be here, you know. A few Alphas were giving me nasty looks as though they think I'm going to betray them or something."

"Well I know you'd never betray us Salty," the female informed him. "If anything, I might've been Mooch they were looking at."

"What makes you say that?" wondered her mate.

"He's not here."

The two males looked around for their friend. "Huh. That's weird…" Salty said.

"Did he go to relieve himself?" asked the Omega in the lead.

"It _is_ possible since he drank so much river water," Salty commented. "Hey? Wouldn't it be funny, if Luke betrayed us?" he laughed after they started walking again.

The usually calm and non-violent Janice slapped him on the back of the head. "Yow!" Salty howled.

"My pup isn't evil!" Janice growled.

"Are you sure about that?" asked a deep voice behind them. All three turned their heads to see the fourth member of their expedition walking quickly up to them.

"Mooch! Where were you?" Shakey said, turning completely around.

Mooch panted before answering. "I apologize for not explaining. But I had to go to the little pup's room."

"Pay up," Shakey whispered, holding out his paw. Janice licked his cheek.

"Why do you look like you've just seen a ghost?" Salty wondered, cocking his head.

"Because I just found where Humphrey and the others are fighting…and you won't believe whose trying to help kill them…" Mooch looked at Shakey.

* * *

><p>Luna snarled ferociously and charged. The traitor was hurting her Uncle Humphrey. And when you're a descendant of Eve, you're not to be messed with when your angry.<p>

Luna pounced on her Uncle's attacker and she could tell she had taken him by surprise. They rolled a few feet apart from the rest of the fighting wolves. Luna finally pinned down her pack's traitor. Of all pack-mates to betray her, how could it be him?

"Go ahead. Start asking questions," he growled, sounding annoyed.

"Why?" Luna shook her head, wishing he would let her look him in the eye. "Why would you do it Lucas? I thought you cared about me!"

"You didn't feel the same way!" Luke snapped, snarling, their noses only a couple inches apart. "Why?"

"You were my friend! But that was all. I found love in someone else," Luna replied. "It isn't anyone else's fault you're a sore loser!" she spat.

Luke snarled and scratched her hind legs with his. Luna yelped, jumping backwards a little. Luke sprang to his paws and ran past her, heading back into the sea of fighting wolves to attack his own pack-mates.

Luna stopped him by sinking her teeth into his tail and dragging him backwards.

"We're not done here!" she hissed.

She dragged him past her and stared him directly in the eyes. "You know what?" Luke growled after a little while, his eyes narrowed into slits. "I admit, I was surprised you accepted my offer to go to the Moonlight Howl. It was a test to see if you really would choose some enemy wolf over me. But it was too late then. I was given too much disrespect to back out of my deal."

"The only enemy wolf I see here is you! I am sorry I wasn't a good friend, but it's too late for me to take it back. But I was planning to go to the Moonlight Howl with you as a friend. And if it wasn't for all of this destruction, maybe you could've had me! But you made your choice. You betrayed us!"

"You're the traitor!" Luke retorted, jumping to his paws, so their eyes were leveled. "You snuck around behind everyone's back and had an affair—"

"It wasn't an affair! It was me following what my heart wanted. But it's not like we did anything inappropriate. And after all of this, I definitely don't love you. Not even as a friend. No one will ever love the stupid pup that gave up his Head-Alphas to the worst wolf ever—!"

Luna was cut off by her own yelp of pain. Luke had slapped her, claws and all. To make the scene even more dramatic, thunder roared over their heads as his claws raked her face.

The impact of his blow made Luna fall to the ground. She sniffled.

She gave a warning growl as she felt Luke press his paws onto the back of her head, forcing it to stay on the forest floor. "No one in your pathetic pack may like me. But tons of Seth followers appreciate me. You have no idea how many females here have asked me to howl with them. _You're_ the worst wolf ever! You and your family can't lead a pack! Seth treats everyone fairly and with respect—"

"He lied to you!" Luna screamed. "You traitor! Seth lies! He lied to you! He'd say anything to get you to do what he wants! Once me and my family are dead, he'll break all his promises! You'll be treated worse under his—"

Lightning blazed across the sky as Luke bit into her throat. Luna yelped with surprise then flailed her paws, choking. "I hate you, drama queen," he growled coldly. "You broke my heart, so now I don't care what happens to you. In fact, I hope Seth wins tonight. You don't know how it feels putting up with being a bullied Omega like me!"

You remember the term 'life flashes before your eyes'? Well instead, Luna had flashbacks of the real way Luke lived. Humphrey was wrong. Sure, he didn't have many responsibilities, leaving him carefree, but he was bullied. Some Alphas would taunt him for having a vegetarian mother and an Omega father since much of this generation had one parent of each rank. They called him weak, and useless without Alpha blood from either parent. None of Luke's friends ever did anything when he got bullied. Not even Luna. Sure she gave the Alphas some attitude, but didn't think much of the matter. Until now. But by now, it was too late.

"Luke…I'm sorry," Luna rasped. "I know I wasn't there when I should've been but now I—"

Luke growled furiously and tossed her aside. Luna slid through the mud and let out an ear-splitting yelp as she hit her head hard on a tree. Luke stormed up to her and stood over her. "It's too late for 'I'm sorry,'" he hissed. "I've already had to go through the pain and I had parents too stupid to do anything about it—!"

"Your parents cared about you!" Luna stumbled to her paws. "It was _your_ fault you felt so alone since you never even bothered to _tell them about what was happening to you_!" she yelled, rain or no rain.

"What was I supposed to say? What were they going to do?" Luke demanded. "They're both nothing but weak clowns! What's an Omega good for anyways?"

"Listen to yourself," Luna tried to lower her voice. She was shaking, but it was from being cold than fear. This was just one of her childhood friends losing his way. She wasn't afraid of him. He wouldn't hurt her. This was all because he loved her. "You're no better than the Alphas who did all of _that_ to you. I admit…I wasn't a very good friend. I wasn't there every time you needed me and I wish I could do it all over. But hurt me if you must! Not your own pack! So many innocent wolves are and will get hurt because you chose the wrong way out. Seth is evil, but you aren't. You're a fun-loving Omega who enjoys feeling like a pup—"

"Shut up!" Luke roared. "I am no Omega! I live in Seth's pack now. I am an Alpha."

"No, you're not!" Luna argued. "Lucas, if you just stop now, maybe there _could_ be a chance for you and me."

"You just can't stop lying, can you? Well I'm no longer vulnerable to your little tricks! Alphas don't fall for them. And I _am_ an Alpha…" his voice trailed off and he stood up straighter, prouder.

Luna snapped. "You're the weak one!" she yelled. "You honestly think Seth will keep his promises? How does my word matter less than someone who made you a nervous wreck?"

"I am a Seth-shipper now! I refuse to return to your worthless pack! My life there is rejection and loneliness! And I sure as hell will watch you die before you take me back!"

Luna was taken aback. She gasped and stared at the other wolf. This wasn't her friend. This was a traitor. A monster created from a broken heart. A Seth follower or Seth-shipper as they called themselves.

Luna flattened her ears as she decided on something. She looked at Luke unblinkingly. "Fine then. Kill me. You can watch me die. Then you'll go back to the life you know you love, just forgot you did!"

"No. You're dying tonight. But I'm not going back. So now you and your family will see what it's like to be given pain and death and be ignored. Like me. I was verbally tortured and died on the inside when Seth told me the girl I loved was in love with someone else. _Seth_ told me. A complete stranger. I was ignored by everyone. My parents, my pack-mates, and you. Well now, you will suffer a slow death. And I will do nothing. I'll watch Seth do it. I'll be cheering _him_ on. And I won't listen to you. I won't go back. I will stay where I want to be. I'm no chew toy or predictable book! You thought you could read me? Well guess what. Here's a twist!"

Luke raised his paw, ready for a brutal strike. Luna didn't do anything. She slid onto her belly and closed her eyes. She was aware Luke wouldn't kill her. Hateful or not, he said Seth would carry out the dark deeds tonight. But she knew Luke was going to injure her brutally and painfully. But she wasn't going to give him pleasure by showing her fear and pain. She was going to accept death with dignity. Better her than Troy, or Lilly, or Garth right? Maybe when Luke felt her blood on his paws, he'd think twice…maybe he'd listen….

The next few seconds were shocking. Almost more shocking than seeing Max turn good. Luna heard a yelp of pain from Luke and another wolf's snarl. The snarl sounded unfamiliar. She opened her eyes.

Flying right past her nose were two figures going too fast for her to recognize. One threw itself into the battle. The larger one jumped high into the air. "Wolf pile!" he yelled, landing on top of a group of Southern wolves, crushing them so hard, they yelped and whined.

As for Luke, he was being pinned down about two yards away from Luna. Luna's eyes widened. "I don't believe this…" she whispered.

"Me neither. But what do you say we stay out of this one?" offered a new voice. Luna saw Janice walking up to her and both started watching the scene before them. Luna seemed shocked, but Janice only watched with an unreadable expression.

"You can't stop me old man…" Luke snickered in his opponent's face.

"You're no son of mine," Shakey growled. He raked his claws down his pup's face, making Luke give a howl of pain so loud, it could be heard over any thunder or lightning.

* * *

><p>Troy was doing a pretty good job at fighting if he did say so himself. He felt like he was nearing the heart of the fight, where his mother and Seth were still going for each other's throat.<p>

Troy heard a deafening howl of pain. He noticed it came from the direction Luna had rolled off with Luke. "Luna!" he growled protectively and raced in that direction. A snarling Northerner jumped in his way and pinned him down easily. Troy felt annoyed. What was this, the sixth time? Troy kicked the wolf's belly and sent it flying off of him.

Troy shook out his fur. He could tell the Northerners from the Southerners because the Northern wolves were so easy to fight! Maybe it was just his Eve genes kicking in.

There was another painful yelp. Troy pricked his ears. It sounded like Lilly! Was he supposed to help Luna or his mother? Troy looked around for Garth. He couldn't see his father anywhere.

_Luna knows how to protect herself_, Troy decided. He raced through the mass of snapping and snarling wolves, heading for the center where his mother was fighting the lead enemy. _That howl wasn't even hers. It was a male's. But that yelp was definitely mom's!_

A wolf fell to the ground in front of Troy. He leaped over it like it was a fallen log and continued to run, swiftly dodging and jumping over other wolves. He had to reach Lilly.

Troy finally found them. Seth had his teeth deep into Lilly's foreleg and had his claws raised, ready to shred her belly. Troy jumped forward before he could. His claws reached Seth's shoulders and he pushed the Head-Alpha off of his parent. Troy must've taken the blood-thirsty wolf by surprise because he had him pinned down easily. For a brief moment Seth looked a little…scared.

_Well that's good!_ Troy thought bitterly. _This is all his fault! My whole family could die tonight and it'll be because of him_.

Troy put both of his paws on Seth's throat and pressed his claws deep through the sensitive skin. Seth smirked as Troy hesitated to go any deeper. Could he really do it? Could Troy really kill this wolf? Despite how evil he was, murder was a dark deed.

A small voice in Troy's head began to challenge him. _Do it! He will kill you if you don't kill him first. Kill him! Now!_

Another painful scream filled Troy's ears. Cheyenne! She sounded as though it was something agonizing. Troy pricked his ears and looked around for her. He might as well have been looking for a Chihuahua in a blizzard.

Troy's attention switched back to Seth who had tried to throw him off. Troy growled. Maybe he couldn't bring himself to kill Seth, but he could make him suffer long enough for someone who did have guts….

Troy bit down into Seth's throat. He listened to Seth's pained yelp and gagging. The wolf flailed his paws, scratching Troy. But Troy was too strong. Blood from a wound on his head trickled between his eyes. He was mad. For once in his life, couldn't he just have a normal, carefree life of enjoyment with his family? One day was all he asked! No assassinations, no forbidden relationships, no wars, no murderers padding behind him in the shadows.

Troy's jaws were beginning to sink extremely deep. Seth's forepaws grew weaker and he began to relax. Troy dropped him. So much for the killer instinct.

Troy bit into Seth's right ear and half of it clean off. Seth tried to cry out with pain, but he was still choking. Troy was just getting started. He bit deep into the gray and brown wolf's leg and forced it into nearly a complete circle. Something broke. Seth howled with pain. His Seth-shippers were too busy to aid their leader. Troy clawed at Seth's belly with his hind claws and used his foreclaws to shred his muzzle and nose. He did so for a long time, until he grew tired.

Troy looked down at his victim. Seth was looking at him. He looked so weak, so vulnerable or helpless. "You're becoming me," he whispered.

Troy growled, feeling insulted.

"You're killing me slowly. You want me to suffer," was Seth whimpering? "Only a cold-blooded killer would kill that way."

Troy began breathing hard. He was giving this wolf a taste of his own medicine, not turning into him! Or was he…?

Seth's pup-like expression suddenly turned back into an evil smirk and he threw Troy off. Troy landed on a fallen log, yelping as the bark nearly stabbed him. Seth limped up to him. "It really is a shame you're not a Southerner. We could've been brothers…."

"If we're kin, then hell has frozen over!" Troy spat. He slashed Seth's cheek and lunged for him, pinning him down again and biting into his broken leg.

Seth had trouble fighting back with three legs, but he was still fierce. Troy was growing weak. How much longer could he go on?

Despite his broken paw, Seth still managed to drag Troy into a tight ball of them trying to pin the other one down. Seth came out on top this time.

Seth snickered before sinking his fangs into Troy's throat. He scratched Troy all over with his hind claws and used his good forepaw to sink his claws into Troy's cheek.

"Does this look familiar?" he taunted.

Troy snapped at his nose. Seth slapped him (with his good paw) and bit into his throat again. "Never defy me!" Seth snarled but didn't release Troy. "It'll only lead to this: destruction and pain."

Seth didn't let go for a long time. Troy gasped and coughed. Seth was done playing games. It was time for the final bite. Troy breathed heavily. His body was burning with pain. He tried to scream, but he could only gag.

His vision was beginning to go fuzzy. He tried to fight the fuzziness because he knew what would happen if it overwhelmed him. But Troy soon realized that when he allowed the dizzying view to be there…the pain stopped. He felt numb. He was so tired. What was the point in fighting anymore…?

"Stop! Stop it, stop hurting him!"

Suddenly, the jaws weren't around Troy's throat anymore. His vision was still blurry, but slowly began to clear up. He coughed and struggled to roll onto his stomach. When he weakly managed to, he blinked. "Cherry…?"

The cream and gold wolf was wrestling with Seth. They were snapping and clawing at each other, but were moving too fast to describe.

Cheyenne slashed Seth's muzzle and tried to lunge for his weak spot: his broken leg. But Seth was fast and clever. He jumped out of the way and pushed Cheyenne to the ground with his nose. He dug his teeth into her throat.

"No…!" Troy's throat still hadn't cleared up. "Please, don't!"

Seth pricked his ears and dropped Cheyenne lazily. She coughed. Troy was too wounded to comprehend how to stand up. He crawled closer to them. Cheyenne rolled over to face him. "Don't do it…" she pleaded.

Troy ignored her. He raised his head and glared at Seth without blinking. "Continue to torture me all you want. She hasn't done anything to threaten your leadership. Just don't hurt her."

Seth's half-tail flicked. He walked behind Troy and bit into his tail, pulling it hard. Troy yelped and instinctively scratched with his hind claws, scarring Seth's nose. The Head-Alpha yelped with pain and shook his head, pawing at the bleeding spots.

While Seth tended to his wounds, Cheyenne scooted closer to Troy so that her paw was on top of his (an animal way of holding hands). "You're kind, but stupid!" Cheyenne whispered, her eyes glazed over with pain and misery. "If my blood is spilt, it matters less than yours. Nothing will happen if I die. You're a future Head-Alpha. Your what little your pack has left to believe in."

"But what can _I_ believe in?" Troy replied. "I might barely know you, but I definitely know there's something about us being together that's special."

Cheyenne smiled. "Thanks. I thought so too."

"I love you, Cheyenne."

Cheyenne looked mildly surprised. But with death nearly upon them, she felt bold. "I love you too," she murmured as fangs grabbed Troy's throat again.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm…not my best ending. But before we go onto the next exciting chappie, can I just say? Who the heck are Candy, Scar, and Sweets? Are they in the movie? It's killing me!<strong>

**Oh, and to taunt you like the new Harry Potter movie (it turns out, it's coming out a month later than I thought! Why do you hate me?), is anyone the least bit suspicious of what happened to Logan? Seriously, the guy mysteriously disappeared and was last seen in the paws of a blood-thirsty psycho! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I know it's been a long time, so you are allowed to skip this and go on, go! It's getting good!**

* * *

><p>Luna had left Janice and Shakey to deal with their pup. She climbed up the nearest hill to search the large battle for her family. It was traumatizing how many wolves lay on the ground unmoving. Luna tried not to look too closely, fearing she would recognize somebody. She looked amongst the fighting wolves for her family.<p>

She couldn't find anyone. Or…at least couldn't recognize anybody. All she could see in the small clearing were snarling shapes of gray, and brown, and cream, and gold…hold it! Gold! Aunt Kate!

Luna braced her haunches, ready to race down the hill at top speed, praying her Aunt would stay in one place so she could help. Luna was at the bottom of the hill in two swift bounds and pounced on her Aunt's attacker.

Luna pinned down the black and grey wolf and bit into his scruff. A snarl from behind startled Luna, making her jump onto her hind legs and throw the wolf over her head, through the air and into the trees. "Whoops," Luna said, watching him land in the branches.

"Thanks for that," Kate nodded before bounding away to jump a wolf that had been sneaking up behind Humphrey.

Luna whirled around in circles, looking for someone to attack. She could barely tell her pack-mates from the enemy pack-members.

Before Luna could react, a golden-tan figure broke out of the sea of wolves and pounced on her, snarling. "Hayden!" Luna shrieked. "What are you doing?"

Hayden ceased her snarl. "Oh! I'm sorry, Luna," she apologized embarrassedly, stepping off her cousin. "You just looked like this wolf I was just now going after."

"You mean like that one?" Luna pointed with her paw to something behind Hayden.

Hayden hadn't completely turned around before a red and white wolf pounced on her from behind, pinning her down. Luna scratched his muzzle causing him to yelp. Hayden jumped up, causing him to fall off of her. Hayden pinned him down and Luna bit into his tail, pulling on it until it nearly came off. _I really do take after mom,_ she joked to herself. Both females released the wailing wolf, watching triumphantly as he fled into the forest.

"Thanks Loon," Hayden said before disappearing in the throng of wolves.

Now what was Luna to do?

Luna howled with pain as someone bit into her tail. She whirled around, ready to claw the wolf's face, but a dark brown shape ran in and raked his face, causing the wolf to yelp and release her. "Thanks Scar," Luna said despite the fact the wolf was already rolling away with the other one.

Luna heard another howl of pain. She whipped around, wide-eyed. "Daddy!"

Luna ran through the mass of fighting wolves. She was vaguely aware she was dodging and jumping over different wolves.

Luna skidded to a halt. In front of her was her father, cornered against a tree. He had been knocked to the ground and a black wolf with a white muzzle and tail-tip was standing on top of him, his teeth sinking deeper and deeper into his shoulder.

"Daddy!" Luna repeated. She bounded forward and bit into the wolf's hind leg. He yelped, releasing Garth, and whipped his head around. He used his other hind leg to scratch at Luna's head. Garth lunged and bit into the wolf's ears. Luna jerked backwards, pulling the wolf's leg. He slid past them, causing Garth to rip off half of his ears.

"Whoops," the father and daughter said in unison.

Luna turned to Garth. "Where's Troy?"

"Where's Lilly?" Garth had asked at the same time.

"Wha—I don't know. Stop that!" same time again.

"Bear!"

All heads whipped around. Janice was standing on a fallen log, looking over the battling wolves. "Bears!" she called out again. The wolves didn't look like they believed her.

"C'mon, there's a family of bears. I saw them coming this way!" she yelped. "Hurry!"

The wolves finally ceased their fighting. Most of Luna's pack-mates fled in the direction of home. But a few unfortunate wolves plus the Northern/Southern ones were running to the side.

"Oh no!" Luna whimpered. "They're heading for the mountains, they'll got lost!"

"It doesn't matter," Janice replied, calmly jumping off the log. "There aren't really any bears. I just wanted them to stop fighting!"

"That was clever…" Garth praised. "Now all we have to do is find our pack members and head home to safety for now."

"But how will that stop the war?" Janice cocked her head.

"It might not, unless we do something about Seth. But until then, we just need to get out of here," Garth replied.

"Luna!"

Luna hadn't completely turned around when she was knocked nearly to the ground in a tight hug.

"Lilly! Are you okay?" Garth asked.

Lilly pulled away and looked at her mate. "I'm fine. Where's Troy?"

"I was about to ask the same thing."

"Should I do something?" Janice offered.

"No!" Garth answered instinctively. He was used to Alphas doing all the work, but he quickly remembered something he could have Janice do. "I mean—would you mind helping my mate and daughter fetch our packmates from that mountain maze?"

The dark brown female nodded and raced past Garth and his family.

"If Janice and we are going to round up the pack, what're you going to do?" Lilly demanded.

"I'm going to find our son. Just in case he wasn't in that crowd heading for the mountains," Garth explained.

"Why does Luna have to come? Seth is still here and why can't she go home, where it's safe?" Lilly went on as if Garth hadn't said anything.

"Because I knew she'd say something like…" Garth gestured with his paw to Luna who was beside Lilly.

"I'm not just going to cower in my den! I've been locked up all day, I want to start pulling my own weight here!" Luna glared at her mother fiercely.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Lilly sighed. She turned to her daughter. "Alright, Luna. You heard him. Go with Aunt Janice and find the wolves from our pack."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Garth interjected, holding up a paw. "Luna goes with Janice? I thought I was having both of you out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere until I know both of my pups are coming home tonight," Lilly argued.

"Lilly, you already ripped off half of Seth's tail. I think you've done enough here. I've got enough worrying to do over Troy. The least you could do is let me feel better about you by watching Luna," Garth pointed out.

That made Lilly go quiet.

"Alright," Garth went on. "You two follow where Janice went. Let Luna lead. She probably knows those mountains best. I'll head in the opposite direction in search of Troy."

Both girls nodded and raced back the way Janice had gone, Luna a few steps ahead. True, Lilly was nervous about leaving her mate, but it was for a good reason. Anxiety was gnawing at her, making her stumble as she ran after her daughter. She couldn't get herself to focus.

Where was Troy? Where was Seth? What did Janice do with her traitorous pup? Would Garth be okay? Would she be able to round up all of her packmates? What were her parents and Tony doing? And most importantly: what would she do to Luna after all of this was over?

Lilly shook her head, her fur falling over her eye. She just wanted to get home, with all of her family as soon as possible. Why did she ever want to be Head-Alpha?

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in Southern pack territory, Winston and the others had finally won their battle against the Southerners. But once the rain had started, a certain piece of lightning struck the ground near their battlefield. So now...<p>

"Eve!" Winston called. "What're you doing? The flames are almost upon us!"

"I'm looking for that little caramel-colored wolf!" Winston's mate called back. "She's Luna's friend!"

Eve determinedly ran through the forest, sideways compared to where her pack-mates were headed. Winston didn't hear the last part, so he didn't fully understand why his mate would be so determined to help a Northern/Southern wolf. But he ran after her anyways.

"Winston!"

Winston skidded to a halt and spun around. "Tony! What's wrong?"

The brown wolf was lying on his stomach. Concerned for his friend, Winston raced over to his side. "Is it that disk in your back?"

"I don't think so," Tony shook his head. "The pain's in my chest."

"You probably breathed too much smoke," Winston decided. "You shouldn't have gone after that other wolf!"

"It was Hutch. Humphrey wouldn't have forgiven me if I left him behind!" Tony protested.

Winston didn't know that. He began to feel panicky. The lightning bolt's fire was nearly on top of them both. A tree collapsed nearby, blocking Winston's view of Eve. "_Eve_!" he wailed uselessly. He began to cough. "Tony, we have to go, _now_!"

"I can't."

What was wrong with Tony?

* * *

><p>Luna led her mother through the maze. She hadn't entirely memorized the different paths like Logan had, but she had memorized how to use her nose and track down her packmates' individual scents.<p>

_Logan!_ She thought. _Where has he been all this time? Is he alright? _Luna tried to think to the last place she had seen him. _The forest! He escaped. He should be alright. Wait…wasn't he going to come back for me? Why didn't he? Oh no! What if he was just now getting to where he last saw me? The Southern wolves would take him down for sure! No…granddad is there. And Winston and Eve. Of course. Wait no…they don't know he's my friend! What if they kill him thinking he's the enemy?_

Luna frightening thoughts were making her slow down. She returned to Earth when Lilly roughly nudged her with her nose. "Don't slow down! We can't let them get too far."

"Turn around!"

Lilly and Luna turned to their left to see a dark brown, nearly black form running towards them.

"Janice?" Lilly was surprised. "What's happened?"

"They're here! They're here!" Janice screeched, wide eyed with terror. "You must go back!"

"Who?" Lilly demanded.

"Seth! He followed his followers here and brought them all together. Garth went the wrong way! We must get you two out of here before he finds you!"

"How is he everywhere at once?" Luna growled to herself.

"Janice, Luna and I are going to find our packmates. We cannot just leave them there on their own!" Lilly insisted firmly.

Janice just panted heavily.

"And second, breathe!" Lilly's eyes went wide with concern.

Janice let out a loud breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Sorry," she put a paw to her heart. "It's just…how blood-thirsty he is! It's so scary! He's scary!"

"He's insane. Go home if you must-" Lilly began.

"No. I have to find someone who…I don't think you will bother to."

"Whoever it is, it's probably a packmate. We can't leave behind any packmates."

Janice looked at Luna. "It was Luke."

Luna flattened her ears in anger. "Why did he run?"

"Shakey and I…talked some sense into him. Stuff like his life wasn't the worst in the world and…some things needed a second chance. Including him-"

"He's gone evil!" Luna's eyes blazed.

"It was only because-" Janice was cut off by a pained wolf yelp. All heads turned to see Salty running to them from behind. He was panting heavily and there were scratches on the sides of his head.

"Lilly! Luna!" he called. "It's Seth! He's here, with a few of his supporters."

"I think we already covered it," Lilly replied, gesturing to Janice with her head.

"But it's the other Alphas," Salty panted, skidding to a halt in front of them. "They're chasing them towards this one big mountain. I think he's planning to corner them. It's the classic cliffs or claws situation!"

"No!" Luna wailed, her eyes growing wide. "We have to help them!"

"Agreed!" Lilly eyes glowed with determination. "Salty, do you remember which mountain they're trapped on?"

"No, but I think my scent trail could still be fresh," Salty nodded excitedly.

"But it's raining. You dragged your tail on the ground the whole way here?" Janice wondered.

"Um…sure," Salty blushed.

"Scent trail it is then!" Lilly declared. "Lead the way, Salty."

The Omega nodded and obeyed. He turned tail and ran the way he came, two of the females following.

* * *

><p>A small wet nose pushed on the wolf gently. He felt a tongue quickly lapse over his wounds, making them sting and felt water falling into his fur, washing away the blood from them. He blinked awake and saw a friendly brown face and lavender eyes. Was she somebody he knew?<p>

The memories came flooding back so fast, the wolf put his paw to his head and moaned a small, "ow."

"Good morning, Logan."

"Selena! What're you doing here?"

"I just stumbled upon you here in the woods. Wanted to make sure you were still alive," Selena's caramel-colored tail flicked casually and she battered her long eye-lashes.

"That's nice, but where is Hawk?" Logan looked around. He last remembered his fierce fight with the blood-thirsty wolf after Max ran off. They both had been tired and passed out. But now Eve was standing where Hawk had last been.

Speaking of Eve, "Logan is it? How are you feeling?"

"Okay I guess…"

"Good." She raked her claws across Logan's muzzle.

Logan yelped with pain and surprise. He held a paw to his bleeding snout. "What was that for?"

"Troy told us everything. That was for my daughter, Lilly. I'm sure she wouldn't approve of your sneaking around with her daughter," Eve explained. "As for Hawk, who is he again?"

"Never mind, there's a fire!" Selena usually spoke in a small voice, so her idea of rushing sounded a bit weird.

"Okay, okay—wait, fire!" Logan sprang to his paws, alarmed.

"Yes. Apparently with all this rain, a lightning strike couldn't handle staying in the sky," Eve said.

Sure enough, Logan could hear a lot of cracking and felt suddenly very warm. He whipped around. The trees behind him were completely drowned in flames. Logan gasped.

"Enough gaping, we have to move!" Eve urged. She gently pushed Logan with her nose. Selena casually trotted after them as Eve ran in the direction of her own territory. Logan tried his best to catch up.

"How far do you think it'll spread?" Logan panted.

"I don't know. But I'm going to have my pack evacuate to be safe," Eve replied. "Wait a minute!" she skidded to a halt.

Logan was going too fast to notice. He kept running ahead, unaware the two females weren't following.

"Winston? Winston!" Eve called. "Tony? Hutch?" she said after growing desperate.

Selena stopped beside her. "What're you stopping for?" she wondered.

"My mate and pack-mates! I can't find them," Eve explained, looking around in all directions.

"Is Winston that gray wolf that was following you?"

"Most likely, what happened to him?" Eve demanded.

"I don't remember. I think he turned around. Maybe he's already back at your territory?" Selena suggested.

"I'm going back that way to check," Eve gestured with her head in the direction of where they had just come. She turned around and raced that way.

Selena tilted her head, then coughed. The flames were surrounding her now. She tried to look around for a gap in the fire.

Aha! Selena raced forward, swerving to the left at the last moment. She climbed up a boulder that had been sitting there the whole time. She jumped over the flames, and managed to run ahead of the fire, in the direction she had seen Logan head off into.

As for Eve, she slowed to a stop. She had met a dead end. A fallen tree was burning and blocking her way to go any further. She coughed, but didn't give up. "Winston!" she shouted. "Winston, are you there?"

Eve was a little surprised to hear Winston's reply. "Eve! Over here! We're over here! Help!"

_We're_? Eve immediately assumed the worst. Had one of her pack-mates gotten hurt?

Eve frantically searched for a way around the flames. Maybe she could crawl under the log…no. That didn't work. Eve licked her paw that had gotten mildly burned.

Maybe she could jump over the log. No. The only branch that she could swing on just caught fire.

Eve saw Selena's small form running off in the distance. She had a clear road back home. Should Eve just leave Winston…? No! She lived to help him and whoever needed their help, and she would die doing so if she had to.

* * *

><p><em>Third Person:<em>

This is not a good day. I leave my den for two minutes and it bursts into flames. Why me? I've been a good cub.

Oh well. My main priority should be to get out of here as fast as I can. And avoid those weird creatures. Are they suicidal? Why do they stick around to help each other? The way of the wild is supposed to be every creature for themselves. Oh well.

Those flames are getting pretty big…perhaps I should head to a place on higher ground. I know! The den I was born in. It was on a mountain. I haven't been there since…well since I was born! That's pretty high elevated.

Yes. I'll head there.

Oh look, humans. They're putting out the fire. Better safe than sorry though. I hope they won't notice me, despite how big I am.

Gee, this fire is still getting pretty hot. I really need to move faster. I just have to through those weird creatures' territory. I hope I don't run into any of them. I don't want to burn. If any of them get in my way, I just might rip their noses off. I'm hungry and cranky and my home's on fire. Can you really blame me?

* * *

><p>Salty led Lilly and Luna through the mountain range, swerving left almost a dozen times. Finally, they all spotted some wolves snarling and snapping at some others to make them go up the spiral trail.<p>

"That's the mountain with the flat top," Luna gasped. "The one Logan and I howled together on." She couldn't bear the thought of Seth ruining its memory by attacking her packmates there. "We must get him away from there!" she growled, stomping her right forepaw into a puddle. Slowly but surely, the rainstorm had ceased.

Luna raced after the Seth-shippers, Lilly close behind. Salty began to follow, but Lilly stopped and turned on him. "Salty! Where's Janice?"

Salty looked over his shoulder. "I guess she went home. You know how she and Reba hate fighting," he shrugged casually.

"But that means no one's there to tell Garth he's wasting his time. Seth's up there, not in the forest!" Lilly whimpered. "Salty, you _have_ to go back and tell him that we need to take care of Seth here."

"What?"

"Please?"

Salty hesitated. He had never fought in a battle before and was just now starting to enjoy the rush of it. But Lilly was going to be his Head-Alpha any day now…

"Okay, Lilly."

"Follow our scent and don't waste any time!" Lilly called after him as he began to run back. Then she turned and followed her daughter's red tail up the spiral trail.

They both approached the end of the path and dropped quickly to a crouch, snarling. "Seth! Where are you?" Lilly hissed threateningly.

There was a group of wolves that looked relieved to see them on the edge of one of the drops and in front of them were a group of wolves with mud-stained fur and scarlet staining their teeth. They just grinned narrowed their eyes at the sight of the two females.

The one standing farthest between the two groups was dark brown with icy blue eyes and bleeding scars on his shoulders and ears. He grinned evilly at them.

"Hawk!" Luna snarled at the leader. "Where's Logan?"

"Hopefully being burned alive," Hawk replied bitterly. "I saw your grandmother coming towards me as I came too and ran off. I didn't want to waste my time."

"Waste it doing what? Getting beat up by a female?" Lilly retorted, standing up straight. Their packmates laughed.

Hawk growled. "No! I could never be afraid of a female. Even if she is famous for tearing out…" he trailed off. He cleared his throat. "Anywho, where was I?"

The jet-black Southern wolf stepped forward. "Something about mercy?"

"Mercy? Oh yes!" Hawk turned back to the Western/Eastern wolves. "Now, who wants to get ripped to shreds, and who wants to just jump?"

Luna stole a look over the edge of the mountain. There was a deep drop with fog covering the ground halfway. Halfway? It had to be endless!

"How about we start with your choice, you plucky Omega?" Hawk pointed with a forepaw at a grey wolf in the center. It was Humphrey!

"How 'bout I let you test both options first?" Luna growled. She lunged and caught some loose fur on Hawk's shoulder. She tugged and sent them rolling for a brief moment. Then Hawk pushed the side of her head, sending her sliding head first towards the fall.

"Luna!" Lilly squeaked with horror.

Luna let out a cry of terror. She was about to completely tip over when something bit into her tail, making her yelp twice as loud.

Blood slowly flowed to Luna's head. Her rescuer gently pulled her backwards by her tail, rocks grazing her belly lightly.

Now, Luna would've expected her mother or Uncle Humphrey to have saved her in the nick of time. Certainly not who had.

"Lucas?"

After the shock wore off, Luna jumped to her paws and tackled him to the ground pinning him down. She scratched his muzzle.

After he yelped, he put his paw on the spot above his nose. "I guess I deserved that. Luna I-"

"Sorry I'm late," interrupted a cold voice from behind. Lilly was roughly shoved to the side, almost into the center of her packmates' crowd. Seth limped up to stand in Hawk's spot. The eager murderer bowed his head respectfully and scrambled to the side for Seth. "I'm usually on time for these things," Seth went on. "But the side-swapper there kept me."

Luna looked at Lucas below her. "You tried to stop him…?"

"Got that right."

"But why?"

"Let me up really quickly, please?"

Luna hesitated and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She finally gave in and stepped off him. Luke rose to his paws and lunged for his 'leader.'

He bit into Seth's broken leg. With one yelp from Seth, Hawk darted in and yanked him backwards by the hind leg. He collided with Luna and they were sent sliding backwards until Luna's hind leg dangled off the mountain edge.

"Pick a side pup!" Hawk spat.

"Yeah! We're kinda getting mixed signals here," added a much confused Humphrey.

Luke scrambled off of Luna and searched the crowd. Shakey stepped forward and nodded to his pup. Luke nodded back and snarled at Seth, standing between the Seth-shippers and Winston followers.

"I'm tired of being your puppet!" he said, is tail lashing. "I started this all and have finally came to my senses of how twisted it all was. I don't want to be evil or a killer. All I wanted was someone to give me a place where I felt belonged. But I could never fit in with you psychos!"

"He's gone rabid," the jet-black Southern wolf snorted. "Can we shred-?"

"_Bear_!" cried a terrified female voice.

The wolves looked to see Janice wide eyed and panting at the end of the spiral path. "Bear! There's a bear, he saw me and got mad, he's coming this way!"

"I'm not falling for that again you pathetic Omega," Seth chuckled; rolling his eyes like it was all a joke.

Salty came up to Janice's side, sharing the same breathless and worried face. "She's not lying this time!" he breathed. "I saw it too! It's huge and brown and angry!"

"Do we look stupid?" said a Seth-shipper from the back of the crowd as the others laughed.

"No, but you should look scared!" Kate cried from beside Humphrey, pointing at something behind Janice and Salty.

Janice scrambled away from the trail. Stalking up behind her was a giant dark brown bear, snarling fiercely and so much anger in his eyes, they looked red. His paw was the size of a wolf's head and the moon gave his yellow teeth and black claws an eerie glow. He had to be seven times the size of an average wolf! He reared on his hind legs and roared into the night sky.

Landing back on all fours, the bear swiped at Salty who had been too petrified to move. Salty's breath was knocked out of him for a moment as he was sent gliding over the mountain surface and nearly collided with Luke. It roared again.

Hawk (being the brave, yet dumb idiot he is), snarled and charged towards the bear, snarling at it. The bear growled at it and its massive paw smacked him in the side of the head, a few claws cutting in deep. Western/Eastern wolves stepped out of the way of the large wolf's body. Kate ran up to him and sniffed the claw marks on the side of his head. "He's dead!" she yelled, lightning sounding after she spoke. The bear roared with triumph then narrowed its eyes at Luna and Luke. He slowly stalked towards them his growls like extra thunder.

"Not my daughter!"

A red and white wolf ran underneath the bear and whirled around in front of its nose to bite into the bear's snout. It grunted with shock and swiped at the new wolf, trapping him under the huge paw.

"Garth?" Lilly squeaked with surprise.

Salty managed to get to his paws. "Of course!" he called over the roaring bear. "When you send me on a mission, I plan to get it accomplished!"

The bear pressed down on its left forepaw, crushing Garth.

"Dad!" Luna yelped. She darted forward, but someone stepped in her way.

"I'll do it! You stay out of trouble," Lucas ordered.

"No need," Humphrey overheard them. "Garth gets his missions done too!" The former Omega pointed behind the bear. Hobbling on three legs was Troy, with Cheyenne supporting him. Blood welled from his neck down his back, but he didn't seem to care.

"Yay!" Luna's tail wagged more than ever.

"Excuse me," Troy addressed the bear calmly. "This may come as a shock to you, but my dad is not a shoe. So get off of him before I exchange him for your ears!"

The bear roared at Troy and stomped towards him. Lilly and Kate ran up to Garth, but he stopped them by holding up his paw. "I'm fine. Do not hurt that bear," he pointed at the bear that was stomping over to Troy and Cheyenne. "It's probably just mad we're invading its territory. We shouldn't hurt it because of that!"

"Are you insane?" shouted the red and white wolf Hayden had attacked earlier. "He'll kill us all! We're wolves, and we're going to fight for our lives!" he declared. Snarling he ran to the bear and bit its hind leg. The bear kicked him, sending the wolf into the air and whirled around to bite into the wolf's body. He swung his massive head, making the wolf fly away and let out a blood-chilling yelp as his life ended.

The Western/Eastern wolves were wide-eyed.

"Chandler spoke the truth!" Seth shouted to his followers. "Fight for your life, because this bear doesn't deserve his! Attack!"

The young Alpha's followers barked with agreement and all lunged for the bear at once. The bear was only angrier.

"Mom!" Luke yelled as Janice scrambled to get around the bear and down the spiral trail. "Take the rest of the pack and get out of here!"

Janice nodded and the other wolves tried to follow her. But the bear tried to stumble away from the ferocious wolves and blocked their way. Janice let out a yelp of terror.

"Away from the edge!" Cheyenne commanded. "Everyone get away from the edge!"

"It's all edge!" Kate shrieked.

The bear roared again. Cheyenne growled, but Troy put his paw in front of her. "My family and I got this. You help get my packmates away from here. I don't want you to get hurt!"

"But I-"

Troy interrupted her by racing forward and leaping as high as he could. He landed on the bear's back and tugged on its scruff. Janice and the others managed to crawl to the right side of the mountain and put a small distance between them and the bear. The bear reared on his hind legs, sending Troy falling off. The bear dropped to all fours and looked ready to rip Troy in half.

He was distracted by a shower of rocks hitting him in the face.

"One more, okay another one more, okay maybe five," Jake joked. He and Luna were digging with their hind legs to throw rocks at the bear's head.

Kate had an idea. "Hayden! From Alpha School, remember my squirrels and rabbits story?"

Hayden pricked her ears and then nodded. She ran up to the bear and under its belly. "The bunny goes into his hole," she recited to herself. "Through the tunnel and out the other end." She surfaced under its chest and as it reared on its hind legs, Hayden did a back flip and landed on its paw.

"Through the forest," Kate put in as she jumped onto the bear's head and they both scampered around the bear's body quickly, jumping off at the hind legs.

"And up the tree to see his friend, the squirrel!" Hayden finished triumphantly, as the bear fell to all of its paws. She pounced on its back again and ran up its spine. She bit into his muzzle and wrapped herself around its muzzle, giving it trouble opening its mouth.

"That's my girl!" Humphrey and Kate said proudly at once.

"You Western wolves really are crazy!" cried a Northern wolf. "Do you take anything seriously?"

"Hey!" Humphrey stepped forward. "_I_ fathered that pup. Of course she takes nothing seriously!"

"Hang on tightly, Hayden!" Troy shouted. The bear got onto his hind legs again, about to paw at Hayden. As it raised a forepaw, Troy jumped and hooked his teeth into the bear's paw. Luna lunged and did the same to a hind leg while Jake did the same to the other hind leg, both tugging backwards with all their might, hoping to throw the bear off balance.

Garth's tail wagged proudly. "The pups have this in the bag!"

"They're just Omegas!" a Seth-shipper pointed to Jake and Luna.

"What's wrong with that?" Luke demanded.

The bear ignored the other wolves. He shook his forepaw, making Troy fall down on top of Luna. Then it shook its head frantically, shaking Hayden. Jake let go of his hind leg to watch his sister hold on.

"Hayden!" Humphrey yelped, worried for his daughter.

The bear pawed at its snout, sending Hayden sliding off. She landed in the tight crowd of her packmates, specifically on top of Cheyenne and Janice. The three females moaned with pain.

The bear turned on the group of wolves, now a combined mixture of Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southerners. Troy, Luna, Jake, Seth, and Luke were the only ones who didn't have the bear's attention.

"If you want to live so badly, you'll have to let us all work together!" Lilly told them.

"Mom's right," Luna glared at Seth before darting for the bear's hind leg again. Luke was at her side this time. Luna stopped in curiosity as Luke was somehow being dragged backwards. Seth was biting into his hind leg and dragging him past the bear and down the trail.

Luna turned to Jake. "You and Troy help fight off the bear. I'm going to help Lucas take care of Seth."

Jake looked about to ask why she would help Luke, but decided to keep quiet to save time.

Luna ran after Seth as he dragged Luke down the spiral path. Luke scratched Seth's nose with his other hind leg's claws.

Seth let him go and shook his head, blood spattering around. "You need to pick a side you worthless puppy!" he spat furiously. "I cannot have traitors in my pack."

"Then we're settled. Because I'm no longer in your blood gang!" Luke retorted, getting to his paws.

"I should've gotten rid of you once your job was done," Seth continued, the two males circling. "You're just lucky you gained Max's trust when you did. He was my most trusted advisor."

Seth lunged, causing Luke to swerve to the side. Now Seth's back was to Luna who was trotting up to them, trying to stay quiet so she could surprise the wounded Alpha.

Luke noticed her. "Now would've been a great time for Alpha skills!" he called.

"You don't need Alpha skills!" Luna called back as Seth turned around. "You just need me!" Luna growled and pounced on Seth. He pushed her to the side, making her slam against the mountain wall with a huff. Luke darted forward and bit into Seth's throat. Seth gagged and backed away from him, pawing at his snout.

Luna scrambled to her paws and stood in front of Luke. "_Why_? What did your parents say that I hadn't?" she demanded.

"I don't know. It was just easier to listen to them or something," he whimpered. "But they told me how they started off as friends and I realized…the way to a girl's heart isn't power. It's being a good friend."

"And it took all of this to figure that out?" Luna asked exasperatedly as she gestured to Seth who was charging towards them from behind.

"Looks like it…" Luke tried to avoid her gaze.

Luna felt sharp teeth grab her right hind leg. She whipped around, slamming Seth's head against the wall. She had forgotten how narrow the path was and slid off the edge, her forepaws hanging on.

"Luna!" Luke raced forward to help her ignoring Seth's scissor-like teeth biting into his tail. As Seth dragged him down the trail, Luna was dragged as well by her scruff. Once Luke released her, Seth dragged him away faster, despite having a broken leg.

Luna raced after them. Despite the fact that he had betrayed her, Luke finally saw the error of his ways. Now there was hope they could be friends again. And that started with helping him right now.

Luna caught up with the two males at the very foot of the mountain. Seth continued to drag Luke through the mud, smearing one of the bear's paw print tracks. He jerked his head to the side and Luke slid across the mud and hit his head on a nearby mountain.

"I'll teach you to betray me pup," Seth snarled, stalking towards him.

"You'll have to go through me first!" Luna spat, darting to stand in Seth's way.

The Alpha chuckled as if Luna was just a little pup. Luna flattened her ears, offended and slapped him. Seth flexed his claws angrily and glared at her, lowering his head and snarling. His fur bristled and he let out such a fierce growl, Luna backed away with fear. Seth let out a roar-like noise and lunged for the Omega. At the last second, Luke pushed her out of the way and Seth's jaws sank deep into his neck. Luke pawed at the side of Seth's face and was finally able to push him away. The two males lunged for each other and snapped and fought viciously.

Luna hopped around them, trying to find a good place to join in. "Luke! Let me help," she pleaded, slightly annoyed she was so helpless.

Neither showed signs of hearing her. Before Luna knew it, the two were both on their hind legs, both trying to push the other down. After a few seconds, Seth growled and pinned down Luke. He bit into the Omega's neck and bit down hard, his grip unfazed as Luke squirmed and wriggled to escape.

"No! Let him go, it's me you want dead!" Luna cried. It was like the worst nightmare ever. She couldn't find it in her to move her legs and help. What could she do?

What made it worse was that Luke was looking right at her. "I'm sorry Lu-" Lucas made a choking noise, blood pooling from the sides of his mouth and Seth threw him to the side.

He didn't yelp when he hit the mountain.

"No!" Luna wailed. She raced past Seth and slid in the mud to crouch by Luke. She nosed his head. His fur was already cold and she doubted it was from the earlier rain. Luna whimpered. "You can't die!" she whispered. "I was about to forgive you."

Luna nuzzled the spot below Luke's ear. She waited for Seth to take her next, but instead she heard Seth bark as if he was being attacked. Confused, Luna stood and turned. "Uncle Humphrey!" she squeaked.

"We need help with the bear!" Humphrey explained, keeping Seth occupied by pushing down on his broken leg.

"But you-"

"Will be right behind you," Humphrey assured. "Just give me a minute, but start running!"

Luna hesitated, and then obeyed, running at top speed up the trail. Humphrey bit into Seth's broken leg and threw him to the side (the opposite direction of Luke) before running after her. Seth slowly stumbled to his paws and limped behind as quickly as he could (**A/N: stubborn, isn't he?**).

Luna came to the top of the top and leaped into the air blindly. She ended up on the bear's head. It snorted with surprise and then bounced its head up, knocking Luna off. Luckily, it was a good enough distraction to turn the bear's attention to her, allowing Garth and a few other Alphas to lunge forward. They bit into the bear, becoming furry dots on its left flank. The bear growled with irritation and pain. It twirled around, trying to claw each wolf off of him.

That's when Humphrey and Seth appeared. Humphrey had a new scratch on his hind leg and grey fur was snagged in Seth's claws.

The bear was still circling, so his hind paw hit the two new arrivals. Seth, who was younger, therefore lighter, slid farther around, his hind legs dangling over the edge. He clawed at the smooth rock, trying to pull himself up.

The other wolves were too distracted to help. They had all finally managed to corner the bear. It seemed to notice how many wolves were there and now that they were all teaming up, he began to back away.

The front half of the Jasper Park group lunged forward like a furry tidal wave. They attacked the bear's face and forepaws. The bear shook them all off, backing away some more with fear. The wolves all made yelps with pain. Kate's "ouch!" was loudest as she landed on a rock, her entire right hind leg scraped and bleeding.

The second half of the wolves ran forward, and together, they pushed the bear with their heads. The bear pawed and fell over the edge, sinking into endless fog. A few unfortunate wolves were dragged with it, howling or screaming.

The wolves watched them fade away.

"We did it…" Janice said after a minute. "We all worked together and defeated a bear!" Her tail wagged joyfully.

The wolves all exchanged glances with somebody.

"I guess we did," Salty agreed. The group started mumbling and muttering congratulations to each other at once. A snarl interrupted the group chatter.

Seth was still scrambling to get off the edge.

"We should help him," Lilly told Garth quietly. "He might be cruel, but he's still a wolf."

Garth stopped her as she began to walk towards the desperate Alpha. "I'll do it. I don't trust him." Garth walked forward cautiously. He grabbed Seth's scruff in his teeth and helped him up.

Troy and Luna noticed the mischievous grin on Seth's muzzle. "Dad!" they said in unison. Both raced forward to help their father. Luna bit into Garth's tail and dragged him out of the way. Troy jumped into the spot Garth had been standing and Seth ended up pushing him over the edge. Troy's tail hit his forepaw at the last moment. Seth tripped and they both fell off the mountain, falling into the fog, their howls echoing eerily.

* * *

><p>Luna stared at the spot where her brother had disappeared. Lilly stared at her daughter, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. Garth stood over the edge, constantly shouting, "Troy! Troy, answer me!"<p>

Even the rest of the wolves were shocked.

Lilly began to cry loudly. She let out a long blood-chilling howl in mourning. The other wolves joined in. After then Lilly stormed up to her daughter. "Luna! How could you do this?"

Luna turned to face her mother. "What are you talking about? I was about to take that fall, I didn't ask him to do it instead—"

"Not that! I could never blame anyone for that," Lilly interrupted. "But for meeting with an enemy wolf behind my back! I thought I raised you better than that!"

Luna's eyes swam with tears. "Mom, you did. I was just…I didn't know what I was—"

"You betrayed us, Luna! I forbid you to ever see that wolf again or any of Northern or Southern territory ever again!"

Luna looked startled. "But Lilly—"

"I am your mother. You will do as I say! Be grateful I even bother to trust you to do anything whatsoever."

Garth finally noticed the rest of the pack was staring at the two females. He cleared his throat loudly. "Um, Lilly? Let's not do anything rash—"

"No Garth!" Lilly snapped. "Luna, you are grounded. If you had only listened to us in the first place, none of this would've happened! Seth wouldn't have been able to get a hold of you, this battle wouldn't have happened, and your brother wouldn't be dead!"

"This isn't my fault!" Luna screeched, her tears flowing like rivers. "I didn't want to hurt anybody! I was in love, what else was I supposed to do?"

"It wasn't love. It was an act!"

"Don't go there, Lilly," Luna couldn't bring herself to call her mother anymore.

"They were brothers—"

"But he wouldn't do anything for him! He didn't even want to be his brother, he loved me too! I bet he died for me tonight!"

"I bet he's down that mountain, healing his brother. Or bossing around the other Seth-shippers to make his own evil takeover."

"Logan would make a great leader! Better than you!"

"Luna, the Omega, you go home and sit there until I get there before I take away your future position as Head-Alpha away once and for all!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Luna spat, standing up straighter to look her mother in the eye. Lilly growled.

"Luna, do what your mother tells you—" Garth butted in calmly.

"No dad!" Luna turned on him. "You always take her side because your mates. Well I'm taking Logan's because that's what we will be someday. I don't care what either of you say! I'm going to find my brother and show everyone that he's alive or let you kill me trying!"

"Do not talk back to me, pup," Lilly hissed.

"I have to!" Luna turned back to Lilly. "You always want me to do what you say. Well once, you told me to do whatever my heart tells me, even if I think someone will get hurt. I'm doing that. Why are you an exception to those feeling hurt?"

"Because they were my words, so I can take them back!"

Humphrey stepped forward. "Lilly? I think this is getting a little too far. A lot happened, and even I'm a little hysterical-"

"Shut up Humphrey!" Lilly shouted.

"Hey!" Kate growled, throwing herself between her sister and her mate.

Garth took a small step closer to Lilly. "Lilly, think for a minute. You wouldn't even be saying any of this if you weren't so grief-stricken. Take time—"

Lilly whipped around to look at him, opening her jaws to give another fiery retort, but Garth curled his tail over his back, growling. "No! Listen to me. You need to take some time to mourn and then you'll be able to think sensibly."

"Luna's going to have to face consequences sooner or later," Lilly argued.

"For pity's sake, Lilly, _listen to me right now_!" Garth roared. "You just need some time to cool off before you do something so harsh, it will make us no longer mates!"

A huge gasp rippled through the crowd. Even Luna flattened her ears and widened her eyes. She didn't mean for that to happen! She barely realized what she had been saying too.

"Dad…" she whispered. "Don't say that. I didn't mean half of what I just said—"

"Garth, I just watched my son die," Lilly didn't seem to notice her daughter was there anymore. "I…I'm…I've…"

Garth glared at his mate, waiting for her to find her words. There was an extremely tense silence, aside from the nervous shuffle of someone's paws. But all eyes were on Lilly and Garth. Lilly sighed. "Luna, I'm sorry. I guess we both just snapped after—"

Lilly stopped. Luna wasn't there anymore! Everyone started to look around for her. Kate finally noticed something white flash at the bottom of the mountain. "Luna!" she called, her voice echoing off the other mountains.

But Luna didn't respond. She was running home at top speed. Or, as fast as one could while crying and scolding them self. "It is my fault. I'm sorry Troy. I'm sorry mom. I didn't want anyone to die, or get hurt, or…or know me at all! I'm a curse! I started all of this," Luna sobbed. She slowed to a stop to cry. "What have I ever done that resulted in something good? I should've died instead of Troy! He was a hero, he was a noble Alpha! I'm but a useless Omega. I…I…I'm…"

Luna didn't bother to finish. She had snapped. She sobbed harder, stumbling to her paws to slam her head against a rock nearby. "I'm a stupid, little pup!" she said between bangs. "All of this is my entire fault. I should find that waterfall and-"

Luna was cut off by her own yelp of surprise. Someone had pushed her away from the rock. After rolling like a log, she landed on her stomach, eyes rolling.

"Selena! Wha…how—when did you get here?" Luna gasped. "And what are you covered in?"

"Soot! And why are you trying to stab your head?" the small she-wolf demanded.

Luna stood up, ears drooping. "I wasn't. I was just mad. My brother just fell off a mountain, so…"

Selena's gaze softened. "Oh…I'm sorry, really I am. I guess the last thing you want to hear is bad news."

Luna shook her head and closed her eyes. "No…no. I'm ready. Has someone else died?"

"Actually…yes. It was your grandfather."

Luna's eyes snapped opened and widened. She looked at Selena, ready to ask which one, but Selena went on.

"I did everything I could, but…well he made me leave. He didn't want us to breathe in too much smoke and die because of him. I only left because you and your parents needed to know while your other grandparents took care of everyone."

"Wait…smoke? Soot?"

Selena nodded. "There was this rouge lightning bolt and it started a wildfire. The Jasper Park rangers just came in to stop it, but we don't how far it'll be able to spread. Your pack is coming here."

Luna looked back the way she had come. "Well half of it is already there." She sighed. "Selena? You go and find your sister. She ran off somewhere in that direction—" Luna pointed with her nose—"I think she's in denial my brother died. I'm going to wait and make sure the rest of my pack get to safety."

Selena grinned and nodded. She walked past Luna. "You're going to be a great Head-Alpha! I can tell already," she complimented cheerfully before breaking into a run back the way Luna had come.

Luna watched her go. She was flattered, but her ears drooped. She was never going to be a Head-Alpha. Not after how she treated her parents. She probably wouldn't even want to live because of the guilt she felt for starting all this.

_If only you had never been born…things would've been better!_ a voice screamed in her head. _Everyone else would probably still be alive!_

_I get that! You don't have to rub it in. I already want to give up whatever's left of me._

* * *

><p>"Hello?" a female voice echoed through the mountains. It was foggy down here and gray, giving the scene a dreary, creepy feeling. The silhouette of a lean female wolf shone through the thick fog. "Is anyone here?"<p>

She pricked her ears. A brief silence responded. Then there was a rasp-like coughing. The wolf bounded forward. The coughs grew louder. She finally slowed to a walk as she saw a wolf form lying on its side, its body shaking as it coughed. The wolf took a few steps toward the male. Once she was close enough to see a face through the fog, she gasped.

Seth was gasping and his breathing was labored. He was scarred all over and his leg was still tucked to his stomach. Blood trailed down his body in every direction. A sharp rock from his fall was stuck in his side, between a pair of ribs. It was a miracle he was still somewhat alive.

"Help me Cherry," he begged the female. "Please…we were going to be mates in the morning…"

Cheyenne looked at him once more. She flattened her ears in determination. "Alright Seth. I will."

She took a single step closer and crouched over him. She sniffed the rock jabbed in his flank. She moved her head to his neck and gave it a sniff. Without warning, she grabbed his neck in her teeth and sank down hard. Seth let out a choking noise, and then laughed maniacally. Cheyenne bit down with all her might and then threw him to the side roughly.

Seth landed on his side again, his eyes glazed and looking at nothing. There was an evil grin permanently etched on his muzzle. Flies began to gather and buzzed around the finally dead wolf, like he was garbage.

"Not fun is it?" Cheyenne hissed with new confidence. She wagged her tail. She had done it! The cruel reign was over! And it was because of her!

"Hello?" a new voice echoed a little bit further away. "Whose there?"

Cheyenne pricked her ears and looked in the direction of the voice. Her grin grew wider and she raced towards it. "Troy? Troy! It's Cherry—I mean, Cheyenne. Where are you?"

"You're getting warmer."

Cheyenne followed his voice to the left.

"Colder."

Cheyenne halted and inched a little bit to the right.

"Warm."

Cheyenne broke into a quick trot.

"Warmer!"

Cheyenne continued running at full speed.

"Don't step on me!"

Cheyenne skidded to a stop. She squinted through the fog and managed to see a large shape that looked like someone trying to get up unsuccessfully.

"Troy!" she breathed joyfully. She ran up to him and nuzzled his snout.

"How'd you guess?" he joked as she let him lean on her to stand up.

"I knew it!" she nuzzled him again on the neck. "I knew you'd still be alive!"

"Of course I'm still alive. I'm too determined to take care of my pack and family and love you that not even death could stop me. I'm guess I really am strong."

"And you fell off a mountain Logan falls off of all the time. It's not a fatal fall, but one heck of a rush!"

"You're telling me. But does that mean…?"

"Nope. Seth hit a sharp rock on his way down."

"So…he's-?"

"Dead. I gave him the final bite."

"Wow. I'm proud."

"Not as proud as me that you survived all this!"

"Well the fall's not that bad. The fog just gives it that never-ending allusion. But killing that maniac? That's big."

"He never did know love…" Cheyenne murmured, half to herself. "And he never will now."

"Well as much as that sucks for him, he didn't have to take it out on us!" Troy replied firmly. "A blood bath isn't the answer to the world's problems."

Cheyenne was about to reply when she heard the sound of small paw-steps running at top-speed towards her. She turned around, not knowing who to expect.

Her eyes widened. "Selena!"

The small wolf ran up to her littermate and their muzzles brushed.

"Hello," the Omega greeted Troy. "I assume you are Troy. Luna's brother?"

"That's me. You know Luna?"

"We were both taken by the Seth-shippers. I quite liked her. She was nice."

"Yeah she is," Troy agreed. "Where are they? My family. They must be worried sick." Troy limped away from the two girls, but quickly sank into the snow, both of his left legs trapped underneath him.

"I doubt you can make it there on your own. Selena, run ahead and-what are you covered in?"

"Ashes. A fire started down in Southern territory."

"Really?" Troy tensed and his eyes widened with concern. "Is everyone alright?"

"A lot of your packmates made it out alright although…" Selena's ears drooped and she looked at her paws for a few heartbeats. "…Tony's dead."

* * *

><p><strong>How was that? I apologize it took so long, a lot of drama came up within the family. Also, the computer crashed completely. Lucky for you duckies, this story is on my laptop, completely healthy. But with school starting, a lot of stories are delayed. Weirdly, school challenges me to update faster.<strong>

**Next chapter should come sooner this time. Review if it makes you feel better.**

**If I owned these characters, don't you think this would be a big fancy movie by now?**

**P.S. can anyone guess which movie bear this bear was based on?**

**Random thing to think about: what if wolves declared war on the human race? Who would you root for? Who would win?**

**Sincerely, Cutie. **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I have good news and bad news. I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I tried to make up for it with a long chapter, and I even started The Successors: Kate and Humphrey. And I know you don't deserve bad news after the wait, but here it is: this is the last chapter. And you might want some paper and a pen. You'll see why towards the middle.**

* * *

><p>The wolves on the mountaintop all traveled down the mountain like one big wolf. They were all going to travel to Western territory to discuss what to do now that Seth was dead. News had spread that his mother was too. The Southern and Northern packs were leaderless.<p>

Garth led the way, with Lilly by his side. She didn't look at her mate. She just kept her head bowed and her tail was limp between her legs. It was easy to tell she wanted to take back the argument from earlier more than anything else that happened tonight.

Suddenly, a heart-broken wail burst from the back of the group. A dark brown shape raced out of the crowd. It was Janice, whimpering like one of her squirrel friends had died. Except this was worse. Janice collapsed into sobs beside her dead son.

Janice pushed the side of Luke's face with her nose. He didn't respond, his light brown eyes glazed with no life.

"He was my pup! My _only_ pup!" Janice gasped. The packs didn't move. They had never seen the vegetarian wolf cry so hard. Not even the one spring when barely any berries had grown.

Another wolf had walked up to Janice. It was Humphrey. He sat next to the heart-broken mother and tried to think of something comforting to tell her.

Kate walked up too. She knew what it was like to see her pup dead. She knew how Janice felt. Nothing would cheer Janice up right now.

Lilly remembered watching Troy fall off the mountain. But she couldn't bring herself to join them. She couldn't bring herself to move from her spot beside Garth.

Humphrey stretched out a paw and closed the lifeless eyes. There was nothing this pup needed to see anymore. Humphrey grabbed the young wolf's scruff in his teeth and began to drag him in the direction of home. _He might've been working for two packs, but he was born in one. He should be buried in that territory _Humphrey thought.

Kate walked behind them. She noticed Shakey was having trouble trying to look interested in anything other than his son. Other wolves saw this too, but no one said anything. Enough words had been said already.

Janice pressed her muzzle against the mud that silhouetted where her pup had been and sniffled. Garth flicked his tail and started walking, a signal to let her stay and grieve. Janice could find her way home on her own.

The group of wolves passed a few more mountains and finally came up to Luna, who was lying down next to a large boulder. She looked up at her parents, an apologetic look on her face. Lilly didn't acknowledge her daughter. Garth looked at her without expression. He simply lifted a paw and pointed to the spot between him and Lilly. Luna stood up and scrambled there quickly, tail between her legs, ears flattened, and belly only a few inches off the ground. Garth didn't start walking until she stood up to her full height. Lilly still focused on the ground in front of her.

Finally, the wolves started to trek into Western territory. As they grew closer to where everyone's dens were, the wolves stopped and looked with shock and wide-eyes.

Luna finally spoke up. "What the-?"

"Luna! Lilly!" Winston interrupted happily. He and Eve ran up to their packmates.

Kate nosed her way to the front, quickly followed by Hayden. "What happened here?" she demanded, looking at her home.

"The storm caused a fire," Winston answered. "The humans put the last of it out a few minutes ago."

"Fire?" Hayden pricked her ears. "Is everyone alright?"

"They're fine," Winston assured. "Everyone sheltered here, in Western territory. Most of our dens are made from caves, so they were safe while the humans did their job."

The group of wolves broke up. The land was covered in ashes, dust, and fallen trees dotting the land here and there. Everything was black, dark brown, and smoky grey. The young Alphas Hayden had left in charge were walking around, trying to get some of the rubble out of the way. Even the Omegas were helping them. Most of the wolves that had broken off the group were padding over to check on their kids. The Northerners whispered to each other, fretting over their allies in Southern territory. Sweets came running up and rubbed noses with Salty. "Thank goodness you're in one piece!" she breathed.

Humphrey, Kate, and the rest of their gang walked off, giving the couple some time to talk by themselves. Luna bounded the opposite way, to help her friends move a fallen tree from the entrance to one of their dens.

Winston and Eve exchanged a nervous glance before trotting after Humphrey's group. Winston was walking the slowest. "Garth?" he asked. "May I speak to you alone?"

"Oh…uh, sure sir," Garth followed Winston a few feet away from the others.

"How was the fire?" Garth asked once they were out of earshot. "Did we lose anyone?"

Winston sighed, suddenly looking twice as old as he was. "Actually Garth, that's what I wanted to talk about."

Garth pricked his ears. "What did you have to say that the others shouldn't hear?"

Winston avoided his emerald gaze. "We lost a few of the Southerners. Nobody you or I knew. Seth's mother finally passed away. Now the Southern and Northern wolves have no leader."

"That's terrible!"

"It is. But…one of our wolves gave up his life there tonight too…" Winston trailed off.

Garth tensed. "Who was it? Was it Oscar—he was the pups' favorite Alpha school teacher."

"It was your father," Winston blurted, unable to handle the guilt anymore.

Garth froze, as if he hadn't heard.

"Garth…I know it's easy to blame Seth, but this would've happened tonight whether tonight's battles happened or not. You see…he was very old. He didn't die in the flames like I thought. Eve recognized it as a heart attack."

"Where is he now?" Garth finally said.

"The fire spread fast, but Hutch and I managed to bring him to Eastern territory. He's laying with his mate now."

Garth was expressionless. He felt too numb too think of how to react. He didn't know if he should deny it, yell at someone, run away, or at least scream. "…well, at least he's happy now. He and mom were very close you know."

"I do. Er…" Winston didn't know if he should say more. What could be said to make Garth feel better? "…what about Northern territory? Did anyone pass away there?"

"A lot," the young adult wolf was reluctant to answer.

"That's terrible," Winston replied softly. "We probably shouldn't say out in the open. Fetch my daughters and Humphrey and meet me and Eve in our den. But tell Luna to get there first. Eve and I need to speak with her…" Winston trailed off gravely.

Garth nodded and walked away. He didn't have the energy to run anymore.

It took him a while to find someone, but he eventually found Kate, who was twirling around in circles, searching for someone.

"Kate!" he called, trotting up to her. "How busy are you?"

His sister-in-law jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked at him, her eyes mixed with worry and annoyance.

"What's happened now?"

"Your daughter and my sister! You turn your back on them for two seconds and they just disappear!"

Garth felt more annoyed than worried. With Seth dead, and the Southerners mainly focused on their dead territory, Luna had to have run off by free will, and Lilly would've followed her. Perhaps they had just gone somewhere to clear the air between them.

"Garth, are you just going to stand there?" Kate demanded. "We need to look for them, they could get in trouble!"

_She's right _Garth decided in his head. _There aren't just wolves in Jasper Park. There could be more bears or mountain lions or humans around (which Kate must be most worried about, considering her last encounter with them). _

Without warning Kate, Garth ran past her and into the forest to find Luna and Lilly.

* * *

><p>The Southern pack's territory was worse than the United pack's. True, everything had the same color, but here it was a darker shade. Almost every tree was black, or fallen over. A breeze blew, sending a few leftover sparks rolling on the ground.<p>

A white wolf walked through the bare ground. She observed it, feeling pity for the pack that lived here. She let out small 'arf' noises, pricking her ears after each one. She was waiting for someone to respond.

"You shouldn't be here."

The young wolf inhaled and exhaled loudly before turning to face the other white wolf that watched her from a few feet away.

"You have your own pack that needs help clearing the rubble," Lilly continued, stepping closer.

Luna bit back an 'are you sure?' The last thing she needed was to upset her mother with a rude retort. "Mom, I don't want to speak through riddles," Luna dipped her head truthfully. "Let's skip to the real reason you followed me." Luna swallowed the knot of guilt wedged in her throat before going on. "I really am sorry I was so rude. You were right, I was betraying my pack-and I don't deserve to become Head-Alpha."

"No, your father was right," Lilly held up a paw in protest. "I shouldn't have been making rash decisions when I was in shock."

"Are you and dad going to break up?" Luna whimpered, tucking her tail between her legs.

Lilly didn't answer right away. She didn't know the answer. But she decided to tell Luna something for the time being. "No. Not over a little argument. Everyone's going to settle down, and then things will go back to the way they were." Lilly wasn't sure if this was the truth, but she felt convinced by her words.

Luna twitched an ear uncomfortably. She wanted to talk about something else now, but she didn't know how to bring it up. Lilly recognized her daughter's shifting on her paws as body language for 'I don't know how to say this.'

"Luna, is there something else you would like to ask?" Lilly pressed gently.

Luna flexed her claws, impatient with herself. "Well…I just wanted to know-I mean!-um…" Luna thought hard. "…if…if we're going to try to forget the little…'mountain argument' episode, does that mean I'm…you know…allowed to see Lo-other packs' wolves?" Luna chickened out.

Lilly knew what she meant. She didn't know what to say that would benefit both of them. "Luna, you know I don't trust him after-"

"Oh, tonight wasn't his fault-it was mine!" Luna broke in. "I-I should've listened to you. If I hadn't seen him…he would've…Mom, if you just met him! I knew you would like him. He's very polite, and thoughtful, and I can tell he respects you. If you just…if you just ignored who his family is, you'd want this for me."

Lilly sighed, sitting down to scratch behind her ear (which is what _she_ did when she was uncomfortable). Luna's tail flicked back and forth anxiously.

"I think," Lilly said at last, "that we should get your father, aunt, and uncle's opinion. Especially your father's," Lilly added too quietly for Luna to hear. She knew if Luna heard the last part, she'd suspect that things might not clear up so easily with Garth and Lilly.

Now Luna sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws. "Okay. But can I stay here and look for Logan? So that someone can speak on his behalf besides me."

"I'm afraid not. As I was following you, I overheard my father and your father talking. Winston wants to speak to you in private before the rest of us."

"Just dad and granddad?" Luna felt nervous again. "Did you hear what they were saying that they didn't want anyone else to hear?"

"Relax, it wasn't about what you did," Lilly assured. "They wanted Garth to know Tony passed away before everyone else."

"Grandpa Tony…" Luna's heart sank to the tip of her tail. "…he…oh, it's my fault! If I hadn't been taken to Southern territory, he wouldn't have had to rescue me and get caught in the fire-!"

"Oh no, it wasn't the fire!" Lilly sprang to her paws, feeling guilty for her pup's guilt. "Eve said he would've had the heart attack either way."

Luna whimpered. "I still know that others were killed for my sake. I'll do anything to make it up to their loved ones," Luna promised, feeling teary eyed. An image of Luke filled her mind. He didn't know where his loyalties lied because she didn't give him a chance. Now he was killed. Practically at her paws.

Lilly stepped closer, and nuzzled her daughter. "Who are you thinking about?"

"Luke. Did you see him?"

Lilly nodded.

"It was my fault he betrayed us. He was upset I wouldn't give him a chance to date me. And I wouldn't date him because I was disobeying you."

"Luna. Lucas had a hard time with bullying for quite a while. And Seth was very persuasive. You only played a small part in his betrayal."

Luna sniffled, looking sadly up at her mother. She was very lucky Lilly was handling this as calmly as she was. At the moment anyway. "I want to go home mom," she whined, feeling pathetic.

"What about your secret date?" Lilly tilted her head.

Luna looked around. "He probably died too. And I don't want to see that."

Even though Lilly didn't like her daughter's secret lover, she felt sorry for them. She wanted to say something like 'maybe he's not dead' or 'well, you don't want to just leave him _here_ do you?'

But Lilly didn't want to say anything. She simply nodded to prove she understood her pup's feelings and led the way home. Luna followed quietly, looking at the ground in front of her, and her tail and ears drooping.

They walked a couple of miles before reaching the Eastern border. There, they found a shady, grey place with a small stream forming a secluded corner. The only color that wasn't light gray light or pale blue water was a small pink blossom tucked in the middle of four green leaves. They were sprouting on a small place near the middle of the stream, but the biggest was in the very center of the small clearing. Sitting beside the largest blossom was a red and white wolf, his shoulders hunched, and his head hanging low.

"Garth?" Lilly's ears pricked.

Garth didn't turn around. He just waited for Luna and Lilly to come and sit next to him. Instinctively, Luna sniffed the little pink blossom. Lilly choked on tears as she saw what her mate was staring at.

Tony. His dark brown form curled in a ball. His darker brown eyes closed from the world. His flanks not moving with breath. The fur on parts of his tail was burnt off.

He was dead. Lifeless. Spiritually gone.

Lilly looked at Garth. He was standing up. "His mate is underneath that blossom. But I want him to be in the Hunting Valley. Ever since she died, he worked too hard just to call it his. So that he could hunt and feed me and my brother without her help. It seems hard to separate them again, but he'll be beside his youngest son."

"The one he lost in a fight for the valley?" Lilly cocked her head, her fur looking bright white in the small light.

"I think it's a good idea," Luna piped in.

Garth nodded in agreement. He walked around Tony and picked up his scruff. He began to drag him in the direction of Western territory.

"May I help carry him?" Lilly offered softly.

Garth put Tony down to reply. "Of course. Believe it or not, he really liked you."

Lilly tried not to make it obvious how relieved she was at his tone. She had feared he was still mad at her for yelling at Luna. Lilly easily stepped over the stream and picked up Tony by the hind legs. Garth took his scruff and they walked towards the Hunting Valley, Luna following close behind, with one thing on her mind.

_Will I get to help bury Troy?_

* * *

><p>The funerals were quick. Luke and those who died in Northern territory all had theirs at once. But only Luke's body was displayed in the center of the clearing. No one wanted to retrieve the other bodies from Northern territory. A loved one spoke up for each of them, which took some time. Luke was last. Janice had returned. She didn't cry again until now. Shakey didn't want to speak for his son. He didn't know what he wanted to say to someone who betrayed two united packs.<p>

So everyone was surprised when Kate stepped forward. She was silent, looking at Luke as she came up with her speech on the spot. Finally, she exhaled shakily and started to speak. "This past winter, I taught young pups in Alpha School. There, I lost my pup Leah in a hunting incident."

Hayden sniffed loudly, closing her eyes and crying hard at the memory. Luna sat beside her and put a paw over her cousin's.

Kate didn't acknowledge it. "And believe me, the hardest part of parenthood is when your pup dies before you do. And as a united pack, he should've been a pup to all of us. After all, that's what we wolves symbolize, right? Family. Because of how successful our lives in our packs work. Well the pup at my paws right now felt like he had no family. And to me, that's a very harsh blow. Because…well, are we really a pack if we made this pup feel like a loner among us? With our cruel treatment to Omegas like this one, we should've expected him to feel bitter. A broken heart can blind a wolf, and can even completely change them. Now, a pack mate's death is the worst way to learn a lesson. But I feel as though the death of this young wolf can really educate us on what can happen if we don't start thinking about each other." Kate swallowed hard, deciding to wrap it up already before she bawled in front of everyone. "He was too young to be taken from his family. From his friends. And we need to avoid reliving last night. Seth's death won't do that. Treating each other like you treat us Head-Alphas will prevent something like this. Respect your pack. It's your family. And for all you know, someone here doesn't feel like it is."

Kate walked back to her spot between Humphrey and Winston. She watched as the other wolves took in her words, and some cried over the guilt and sympathy they felt for Lucas. Kate looked at her paws, feeling suddenly very tired.

Next, the pack howled in mourning before they buried Luke near the Northern and Western border. Then, Tony's funeral began. They buried him in the Hunting Valley before Winston began to speak for him. Winston said things like how Tony was a close friend and what a legend he'd be as far as Head-Alphas go. Then he complimented Tony's strength, explaining how he braved his mate's death when the two pups were very young. Then how he raised the two pups, and put up with the burden of having his youngest son die in a battle Tony had volunteered him for. Then the other wolves howled for Tony, and slowly left, one by one.

By the end, only Luna stayed last. She walked over to her grandfather's grave and placed a small green leaf bundle on top. Inside, was a little pink blossom.

Eve walked up to her den, waiting anxiously for her meeting with Luna and the others to start. She sat where Kate and Winston usually sat when they were deep in thought or watching the pack. Below her, the young wolves were clearing away debris so that the adult wolves could get to their own dens and treat each other's wounds. Eve usually enjoyed watching the sun rise, but now she just watched her pack, feeling depressed. A wind blew, whipping her fur backwards. Eve tipped her head backward a little and welcomed the scent of flowers and berries. But instead she got smoky, smoke, and barbequed trees. Overwhelmed, Eve sneezed.

"Bless you," said a timid voice from behind.

Eve turned and saw a small brown and caramel-colored wolf walking up to her, her head bowed with respect and lavender eyes blinking innocently.

"Selena," Eve stood up. "Did you find your sister?"

"Yes ma'am. But we came here because we scented most of our pack mates heading in this direction. We don't have a Head-Alpha now, you know."

"I do know, and it's terrible." Eve hesitated. She hadn't retired yet, so she could still make Head-Alpha decisions. "…Selena? You are a very sweet dear. Would you like to stay with my pack until yours has settled things down?"

Selena thought about Eve's offer. "I think it's a very lovely suggestion. But I'd appreciate it if my sister could stay too. And I'm not entirely sure how she'll feel but I'm positive she'd think it's very nice too. After all, she is 'close' to Troy. I think she'll enjoy visiting with him some more."

Eve's ears drooped. Winston had told her the news about Troy before Tony's funeral. If Selena was a friend of Luna, she must've been a friend of Troy's too. "Oh…Selena, I-I hate to tell be the one to break it to you…but Troy's gone."

"No he's not."

Eve sighed, assuming Selena was in denial. "Yes. Lilly and Garth saw him fall off-"

"The mountain with the flat top? It's not a fatal fall. It just looks like it because of all the fog. But I severely doubt it was his ghost following me here."

"Say that again," Eve looked shocked.

"What? That Troy was following me here? He was. He and Cheyenne stopped to rest a little way past the border when his injuries started to hurt."

That's when Jake came up behind Selena, dipping his head awkwardly (which meant he thought Selena was pretty) before clearing his throat for permission to interrupt. He obviously hadn't heard Selena's news.

"Er, Grandma Eve? My mom wanted to me to tell you that their going to get Troy's body for his funeral. Will-"

Eve lunged forward, giving her grandson a bone-crushing hug. She jumped backward, tail wagging wildly. "There will be no need! This lovely little one just gave the best news-!"

Suddenly, there was a loud howl of joy that echoed throughout the territory. Eve joined in, along with about three other howls. In less than five minutes, Lilly ran past Eve's den, chanting happily, "My pup is alive! He didn't leave me, he's alive!"

Eve bounced in celebration. "Oh, this is wonderful! Oh, what a miracle!"

Jake blinked, wide-eyed. "So, what does this mean?"

"It means that this is over!" Eve exclaimed. "Well, for us anyway," she added, looking at Selena. She cleared her throat, standing straight so she would look respectable again. "Ahem. Jake, I will have a meeting with your parents here very soon. For the time being, why don't you show Selena here a den where she and her sister can stay?"

"Oh, she's going to be staying here? Well isn't she a Northern wolf-I mean, there's nothing wrong with that! Just…aren't things tense with them—not that you look aggressive-you're actually really pretty—I mean! Well the sunrise makes a lot of females have pretty fur-I know my sister-"

"I'd love a tour of your den area," Selena saved him. "And the sunrise _is_ very pretty here. There are a lot of mountains blocking our view in Northern territory."

"That's a shame. Well, there's an excellent place to watch it here, we call it Moonlight Howl Rock, but I think it looks better right now," Jake suggested.

"Neat," Selena pricked her ears with interest. She battered her eyelashes and followed Jake down the path from Eve's den. Eve suddenly felt apprehensive for leaving the two teenage wolves alone. But she noticed her mate, daughters, their mates, and Luna who had Troy limping next to her were walking for her.

Winston was a little way ahead, so he reached Eve first. He sighed before speaking. "We're going to have to decide the Northern and Southern packs' future for them. And Hayden's here to keep watch while we have the meeting. Luna and Lilly are expecting someone to join us."

* * *

><p>Eve wanted to give Troy something for his battle wounds, but he stubbornly insisted that they needed to decide this right now. The Head-Alphas and their heirs sat in a circle in the low roofed den. Winston sat in his usual spot, with his back to the entrance. Garth sat to his right, Lilly sat next to Garth, Luna was next to her mother, Humphrey sitting next to them, Troy lying down to Humphrey's right, Kate sitting next to him, and Eve completed the circle, sitting between Winston and Kate.<p>

Winston decided to speak first, turning his head to Luna. "Luna, I'm sure you're aware of how much trouble's been caused."

"She knows, dad," Lilly spoke up. "I've already had this conversation with her."

"Did you mention how we lost quite a few wolves last night?" Eve asked.

"Yes. And I swear, I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to those who lost their loved ones for me," Luna dipped her head shamefully.

Eve tilted her head, feeling as though she had just watched her granddaughter grow up into a real adult wolf.

"If we're going to talk about lost lives, we need to discuss the other packs more than anything," Kate said. "Seth's dead, thankfully, but so is his and Leo's mother."

"Logan," Luna corrected under her breath.

"They have no Head-Alpha now," Kate looked at her parents worriedly.

"Yeah, but what'll we do about it? We can't just pick their Head-Alpha for them," Humphrey put in. "They know each other better than us, and there's no doubt they're going to fight over the position."

"Humphrey's right," Lilly agreed.

"Since the old Head-Alpha of the Northern pack was mates with the Head-Alpha female of the Southern pack, they're a united pack," Garth pointed out. "And if a Southerner volunteers to be Head-Alpha, we could be dealing with another Seth situation."

"Or at least more fighting, and too much blood has been shed from both of our packs," Kate nodded gravely.

"I know, I know," Winston said. "I've been considering this ever since I found out about their Alphas' secret affair."

"Granddad?" Luna stood up shyly, feeling stage fright. "I know it was wrong to have seen Logan like I was, but I thought…well, what if we united the United packs? If Logan and I married, we'd be doing just that! And for the sake of the pack-"

"No! Winston, she is much too young for marriage!" Eve interrupted, looking horrified as Winston actually considered this.

"Well, we could wait until Luna is of age," Garth reasoned, thinking about him and Kate's first relationship. "And Troy has fallen in love with a Northern wolf as well. Maybe—"

"No. I apologize but no. If we let Luna wed, it'll send a message to the wolves younger than her, that we approve of sneaking around with wolves that their parents don't approve of, like lone wolves. And none of us wanted any of this bloodshed to happen. But I have considered how much trouble it would be to pick the new Head-Alpha. And if there is another United pack in Jasper Park, they will want to share territory like we do. That will be hard to do with our land in the way…the point I'm trying to make is if we did unite the United packs, things will be easier in many ways."

"But, sir, there'll be more mouths to feed and with fall coming up, and then winter, prey will shorten and with the Alpha pups going to Alpha School, things will get hectic," Humphrey fretted.

"If we be more accepting to lone wolves, some of them may have territory to donate," Winston argued. "And we'll be able to have all of Jasper Park to hunt in. Although we're born into certain packs, each individual wolf can hunt better in a certain terrain like the Southerner's bare land, the Northerner's mountains, our grassy areas, and the Eastern woods."

"But if we accept lone wolves, won't that say we can trust them when some of them we can't?" Kate wondered.

"I hear that some wolf packs are traveling here to find better territory," All heads turned to Hayden who spoke up from her position at the entrance. "If we have more wolves, we can protect Jasper Park better."

"Just guard the entrance sweetie," Kate ordered.

"Actually, she's right," Troy said. "Some wolves have seen a lot of wolves eyeing our park's territories because they're not satisfied with theirs."

"So do we lie to the pups?" Eve asked her mate. "If we accept lone wolves, do we say they're from the Northern or Southern packs?"

"We can't!" Lilly protested.

"But telling the truth will admit we tolerate lone wolves. And some of them are dangerous," Kate whimpered.

"There certainly isn't a win-win situation available here," Winston shook his head. "But you're all Head-Alphas-"

"You mean…we're going to be, right?" Garth said.

Winston sighed. He exchanged a look with Eve who nodded. "No, Garth. Tony's heart attack has made us realize how old we are."

Eve growled which was code for 'don't you dare give away my age.'

"It's time we officially retired," Winston went on, pretending not to be intimidated by his mate. "And that means the roles must be reversed. Luna, Troy, Hayden, and Jake need to start training to be Head-Alphas, and the rest of you need to start actually carrying out the Head-Alpha duties. I fear Eve and I have waited too long. And that could've been why Tony isn't with us now."

Garth was silent at the mention of Tony's death. Humphrey remained frozen, which signaled he was in shock. Lilly looked at her paws, not sure if she was ready for the responsibility. Kate just nodded, confident she was ready.

"So now we go to mom and dad for Head-Alpha questions?" Troy checked.

Winston and Eve nodded.

Luna turned to her parents. "So…what does that mean as far as Logan's concerned?"

Lilly and Garth looked at their daughter, than at each other, than at Kate and Humphrey.

"I think that if we're going to be a United Jasper Park Pack, there will be cross-pack romances all around," Kate decided. "Since Luna sees the error in what she did, she deserves to not be an exception."

Garth whispered something in Lilly's ear and she thought it over carefully.

"You're right," Lilly agreed with whatever he said. "I guess it was just his brother I was judging him by…and my sister makes a good point. But I still need to meet him, and if I don't approve of his personality…he's in trouble."

"Oh mother! That won't be a problem, I can assure you!" Luna's tail wagged madly.

Realizing she was at a meeting of former, current, and future Head-Alphas, Luna regained her composure and sat down again, wrapping her tail around her paws neatly. But a huge grin lingered.

"And Troy? Is there someone you would like our blessings for too?" Garth looked at his scarred son.

Troy blinked, feeling embarrassed. "Her name is Cheyenne…"

"She told me you could call her Cherry."

All heads turned to the entrance of the den. Hayden was standing next to a gray wolf, with a light gray mark that flowed up his muzzle, between his eyes.

Luna's ears and tail twitched, as she fought the urge to run up to him.

Logan stepped inside cautiously, his head bowed and ears flattened to his head. His tail was limp between his hind legs. It was clear he wasn't trying to kiss up. He really did respect the Head-Alphas.

"Oh, for pity's sake, you have your mother and father's blessing, go greet him!" Eve said to Luna.

Luna didn't need to be told twice. She ran up to him and pressed her muzzle to his cheek, nuzzling his neck and rubbing their ears together affectionately.

Troy shakily got to his paws, shook some dust out of his blood-stained fur and trotted past them. Walking up to him, about to enter the den was Cherry.

Troy had just seen her, but after his sister's sentimental greeting to Logan, he felt nervous. Did Cheyenne want something like that too? Had she even seen it?

"Heheh. Um…hi."

Cheyenne smiled as her heart swelled with memories. "…hi."

Winston and Eve smiled, feeling happy for their grandkids.

Humphrey and the other Head-Alphas gathered into a tighter circle. "Maybe this whole…one Jasper Park Pack thing will work out well," Humphrey thought aloud.

"I guess if we give it a chance, no one could get hurt," Kate shrugged.

"I think it'll be what's best," Garth nodded.

"I like it," Lilly said simply.

The four Alphas nodded in unison before walking outside. They were greeted by the sun, which was finally shedding a few rays on the burnt ground before them.

Kate grinned, remembering the last time the sun had hidden, and then returned so quickly. The other Head-Alphas tipped their heads back and howled, so that the Jasper Park wolves could gather and hear the news.

Over their howling, Kate leaned close to her daughter. "Have you seen your brother?"

* * *

><p>Jake was sitting in his parents' favorite spot for moonlight howling. At the moment, the sun had just fully risen past the horizon, so they sat with their backs to it, so as not to go blind.<p>

"You're dad's calling for a meeting," Selena noticed.

"Yeah, that's him alright."

"Do you think he's picked my pack's Head-Alpha?"

"Doesn't that mean you have to go back?" Jake fought the urge to let his ears droop in disappointment.

"I'm not sure. But would you like to sit next to me just in case?" Selena offered.

"I'd like that," Jake said a little too eagerly.

Together, the two wolves walked to Eve and Winston's den. Jake gave in to his instincts and nipped the spot where his sister was most ticklish: below the ear. Selena nearly squirmed out of her pelt and let out what Jake thought was the cutest laugh. She stopped walking and covered her mouth with her tail in embarrassment.

"Hey! I'm an Omega, I like everybody's laugh!" Jake said. "And yours is pretty cute."

Selena blushed at his compliment, and lowered her fluffy tail. She got to her paws and trotted forward to walk beside Jake again. She flattened her ears, looking away from him. "Thank you for calling it cute," she said, nuzzling his cheek.

Jake let her get ahead, feeling warm and fuzzy as she nuzzled him.

So what if she was a Northern wolf?

"Maybe this could work…" Jake wagged his tail.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, Jake was supposed to be quoting Winston's line when he and Tony see GarthLilly and Kate/Humphrey together. And I also hope you guys get the symbolism in the sun on the burnt land. The land is the hardships Garth and Lilly and everyone else faced through this story, and the sunshine is the new beginning the Uniting the Packs deal has to offer. **

**And the pen and paper was so no one would get confused with the order the Head-Alphas were sitting in during the meeting.**

**And for anyone interested in reading Kate and Humphrey's Successors story, you might want to keep Kate's speech in mind. Her words play a crucial part. (Wink, wink.)**

**And I know I said that this was the last chapter, but the chapter after this is an epilogue if you want a hint at how life was for Troy and Luna after this (and if you're too rude to read, they'll be mentioned in the next Successors story too, because most of it takes place right after this one).**


	15. Chapter 15

**Epilogue:**

_1 year later_

"…and that's how the Jasper Park wolves all became one big pack," Luna concluded her story, blinking fondly at the three pups staring up at her.

"Wow…" the older male breathed in awe. He then flattened his ears in annoyance at his sister who started scratching behind her ear, like she was bored. He elbowed her. "Leah, were you even listening?"

"Of course I was listening!" the brown and gold female protested, looking offended. "And I'll prove it tonight when Seth and that bear show up in my nightmares!"

"Well I'd rather have heard that one, then the one on how our grandparents got together!" the gray and brown male that had spoken first rolled his eyes.

"Hey now, my Aunt Kate and Uncle Humphrey have a very interesting love story," Luna scolded. "Maybe next time I'll tell you on how your Aunt Hayden learned to be grateful."

"But what about the one on how your grandparents met?" Leah blinked. "You told us the one on Aunt Hayden already."

"Yes, but I think Austin needs to be told it again," Luna looked at Leah's brother mischievously.

"Thanks a lot Aussie!" Leah growled.

"Well, I'm grateful," piped up the youngest pup. "I know that if Grandmamma Kate married Papa Garth, you and my daddy wouldn't have been born, and then I wouldn't have been born!"

"Very true Marley," Luna praised. "With a mind like yours, it's no wonder your parents want you to go to Alpha School when you're older."

Another wolf appeared at the entrance of the den, panting. "Luna! There you are! Do you have any idea how long I was searching for you?"

"Oh, relax Logan. If you'd only gone to Troy, he would've told you I was in his den telling stories to Jake's pups and Marley."

Logan stomped into the cave. "Luna, Cherry and Lilly both agree that you need to stay in our den. Marley's old enough to walk there."

"We're here too," Austin muttered, feeling offended at being ignored.

Logan began to nose Luna, helping her stumble to her paws. Luna nearly fell once she was up, her belly was so heavy. Logan caught her and stayed close to her as she waddled outside. As she walked towards her and Logan's den, Logan turned to the three pups.

"Moon's almost to its highest point. Leah and Aussie, you need to get to your parents' den! It's past curfew."

The two young puppies looked at each other and raced out, trying to get to their den before their parents.

Luna watched them, giggling fondly.

Logan trotted to catch up to her. "Considering their parents, I don't know where they get that rebellious streak!"

"Well, maybe it skips a generation?" Luna tilted her head. She felt something in her stomach, but assumed it was the pups kicking again. Thinking of hers, she sighed dreamily. "Can you imagine we're next to have that?"

"I can and it scares me. You're twice as rebellious as them, so I can only imagine our pups!" Logan teased.

Luna giggled again, but it faded to a whimper.

"Hey, I was only teasing," Logan said, feeling bad now. "I'm going to love our pups whether they're shy like your mother or smarter than me, like your brother (and even his pup mind you)!"

"No, I agree about the rebel thing, it's just…" Luna halted and laid down. "Er…could you fetch my mother and aunt?"

"Your mother and—oh!" Logan tensed and his eyes were like an owl's. "Oh! You mean—now?"

Luna nodded. Her head was on her paws.

"Oh my—!" Logan skidded around, running around his mate. "Can you make it back to your brother's den?"

Luna tried to get to her paws and was stumbling to go back to the cave she had come from, a few fireflies lighting the den inside. "And get Cherry too!" she called as Logan ran off. "I don't know how she'll feel about Marley being here for this."

Logan rounded up the three females as quickly as he could. Cherry gave Luna some quick words of congratulations before taking Marley to sleep in Logan and Luna's den for the night.

Logan was pacing outside the den when Troy and Garth trotted up. Garth went inside, no questions asked. Troy had been banished from his own den and sat next to Logan, looking like guard dogs on either side of the den entrance.

"Kate thinks there will be two," Troy said, trying to ease the tense waiting. "And Lilly seems to think they'll both be male. Any name ideas?"

"Well I know Luna wants a male named Tony."

"And the other?"

Logan felt suddenly embarrassed. But Luna would've wanted Troy to know the names first anyway, right? "…I was really in favor for the name, Luke."

**The end for The Successors: Garth and Lilly! If you want more Troy, Luna, Logan, and Cheyenne, they'll be in the sequel: The Successors: Kate and Humphrey.**

**Merry Christmas to my beloved fans! I appreciate you guys and hope you have happy holidays!**


End file.
